Building regs- council on notice ?

Mcw1972

Please could someone please tell me how you know if the council is on notice if building regulations have not been obtained? Also if they had been put on notice recently in relation to some works carried 10 years ago how likely would it be that they investigate / pursue the matter ?

My situation is that my neighbour has rung up re the removal of a supporting wall stating that his neighbour ( me) has had this work carried out in the past. I've currently got my house on the market and I have't got the reqd building regs. I stupidly listend to my builder at the time who said they weren't reqd . I've read that an indemnity insurance cannot be taken out if a council is on notice.

I don't want to start ringing up and asking if they are on notice as this will obviously alert them ......so is there anyway checking ? Please can somebody help !

Thanks

blackshirtuk

Mcw1972 wrote: »

Please could someone please tell me how you know if the council is on notice if building regulations have not been obtained?

If they were " on notice" you would have had a visit from an enforcement officer. I believe they can only take action up to 4 years after the works being done.

When did the neighbour call?

Indemnity Insurance will ony cover new owner from action from the council, not if the works are dangerous. So new owner may still have an issue. My view would be that it has stood for 10 years so should be ok.

sonastin

Do you know that you actually needed to have building regs certification 10 years ago? Was it a structural wall that you had removed? What did building regs say in relation to that sort of work at the time you had it done? Your neighbour may have "dropped you in it" when you haven't actually done anything wrong.

Also, check with solicitor about the conditions attached to an indemnity policy. Does it say that the council have to be aware of the work or that you have notified of the council for them to refuse cover? How much detail did your neighbour give them (i.e. your property specifically or "a neighbour")? It might still be possible to get an indemnity policy to satisfy your buyer, even though your neighbour made a call. If you're, erm shall we say, a little relaxed about the ethics of it, you could obtain a policy on behalf of your buyer and deny knowledge that the council had been informed of the work should the policy not then pay out. But an indemnity policy won't satisfy a buyer if they are worried that the work wasn't carried out safely because it wasn't signed off.

Mcw1972

Thank you both for your replies.

From what he ( my neighbour ) has told me. He rang last week to find out about some work he wants doing on his house, the same alteration to his house that I had done 10 years ago. I told him in the past that I didn't need it so when he was told he would need Building regulations he has challenged back and asked them to check the records as next door has had it done in 1999 and didn't need it. He tells me that the lady checked for him and said that there were no records. Firstly how can the council just give out info on my property without checking who they are giving it to ? How soon could I expect someone to turn up on my doorstep - days, weeks, months, years ? If as he tells me he said it was 10 years ago to the lady - would they even bother to follow this up or investigate ?

The work in question was the removal of an internal supporting wall approx 6 ft wide. There is an RSJ ( I think thats what it is called ) supporting now. I've had no problems whatsoever with it since it was done.

Thanks for your help.

poppysarah

Our building control is online and can be searched. Goes back a good few years too.