Advice needed - new roof covering with no building regs

catroo3

Hi,

We are ftb about to complete on a property. We had a full structural survey carried out on the house as it is approx 100 years old and this showed that the roof had been re-covered with concrete tiles and one of the chimney stacks had been reduced in size. It has been estimated that this was done 4-5 years ago (when records show the current vendor owned the property even though he had told us that the work had been carried out prior to him buying it, approx 10-15 years ago!) but it seems no building regulation authority for the work was sought so there are no certificates.

We have had a builder look at the roof and they have said that there is a small amount of remedial work to carry out to help strengthen the roof (build up a party wall to strengthen the purlins) but that generally it is sound.

We still want the property and have been advised by the surveyor to get an indemnity policy which the vendor is happy to provide.

We are buying the property with a hope that we will be able to improve it and hopefully sell within a few years to help us up the property ladder. We think we will need to do some work to the roof to help increase the value. In order to do this I assume we will need the services of a structural engineer to advise and use a contractor who will deal with gaining to correct building regs so all should be well for when we decide to re-sell. We think the house is a bargain so we do think we are doing the right thing and going through with the sale with our eyes open.

Does anyone think we have missed anything that might become an issue for us?

Any advice much appreciated

Thanks

Doozergirl

Building regulation approval, if sought, would only apply to the thermal values of the roof (ie. insulation, ventilation) if you were replacing a great deal of it. IMO it's far from the end of the world if you don't have it.

The fact that it's now concrete tiles and the weight difference is another issue, which you seem to be dealing with.

catroo3

Thanks! :beer:

ab7167

Building Regulations would also apply to the structure. If you are replacing slates with concrete tiles, there will be additional weight. As your builder has said, the roof now requires structural alterations to carry this increased load, and building regulations approval should be sought for this work.

Part A of the Building Regs covers structural work, seek advice from your local building regs department to see if they expect to be notified of this.