Building over a Sewer

Snich76

We are planning an extension to the side and rear of our property but there is an underground sewer and inspection chamber on where we want to build. After speaking to Anglian Water it turns out we are able to enter into a build over agreement with them as long as it isnt more than 6 meters being built over. We plan to build over more than 6 meters so are planning on getting the sewer and cover diverted/moved.

My question is this: approx 10 years ago the previous owners of the property built a small extension to the rear of the property but only went 3.5 meters across the back (i.e. not all the way and we want to "square it off" and go along the side). I am worried that a build over agreement was not obtained by the previous owners at the time, and if we now get Anglian Water in to inspect the new diversion, they will see the old extention and demand that we knock it down or claim a massive amount of fee's/charges (according to their website, they can take legal action: http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/_assets/media/Building_over_or_near_to_a_public_sewer_-_download_pack(1).pdf). Are they able to do this or can they not do anything as its been so long since the old extension was built?

I subtlely called Anglian Water to see what they said and they said in theory as its been so long they wouldnt do anything but that doesnt mean they wont...!

System

they are probably going to charge you enough for the diversion anyway so wouldn't bother with any additional charges!!

Snich76

Yeah the charges arent cheap. For anyone interested or wanting to know in the future, they said it would be about £300 application fee, then £500 or 4.75% of the total build cost as deposit, then a further 100% (less deposit) of whatever the actual cost of the work as deposit which is refunded to me at 80% after 4 months then the balance of 20% after a year! That not counting the actual cost of the work!

So whatever I pay the builder I have to give the same amount to Anglian Water (plus application fee) and only fully refunded after a year! Im waiting for quotes form builders before deciding whether I do it or not but if we do would be good to know that AW wont turn around and bite us for the old work.

System

does the existing extension have a building warrant/completion certificate? I would have thought something like that would have been addressed in that process

Snich76

Thanks, I will check the paperwork we got when purchasing the property.

baldelectrician

the_r_sole wrote: »

does the existing extension have a building warrant/completion certificate? I would have thought something like that would have been addressed in that process

Although there are building regs in England and Wales they are not as strict as Scotland (building warrants).
After a few years (I think 7) things can't be enforced south of the border, but in Scotland they can (even if you didn't own the house then)

England and Wales is similar in this way to Northern Ireland at present, but there are rumblings that NI may be adopting the Scottish system - as it's already set up and in the box

System

i meant if the previous extension did have a warrant then surely there would information in that about building over the sewer

i'm more than aware of the english and scottish building standards (unfortunately!!)

Snich76

I checked and there is no completion certificate or building reg paperwork. I was vaguely aware of the rules about 7 years but thought that applied to the Council and alternations etc whereas I am concerned that Anglian Water as a private company may have some contract in small print and can still come after me if they discover that no build over agreement was granted even though it was well over 10 years ago (more likely 15-20 years ago).

Gothicfairy

The one thing I would like to say is please be very careful.
The water companies do have the right to demand that a property is demolished if built over sewer access without a build agreement and the access being moved and this can be done at any time as it is seen as a matter of public health (ie cracked / damaged pipes leaking you know what into peoples homes etc)


In this case they can demand that you remove the old extension but it would be unlikely if you go through the proper application with them and explain that you did not build it etc.
They are not as unreasonable as people would think as their main concern is damage to the sewer and access rather then stopping you building, which is fair enough. No one wants the sewer to collapes or leak due to bad building work or illegal work.

They will do a site visit before agreeing anything and at that stage again you can explain and go through it all. That inspector will be part of the team that will say yay or nay and even then you can go back as if they turn down the build they will explain why and it might well be something you can fix.

cyclonebri1

Can I just ask the question;

Are we talking private soil systems here or shared, ie collective ones from a number of houses where the main sewer often runs through gardens etc?

By private I mean where a detached property has a sewer that collects only it's own waste before emptying into the main public sewer at the edge of the property.

Sorry op, not offering you any advice just seeking similar info myself.

Snich76

Thanks Gothicfairy. You're right and I would never build over an inspection chamber and the plan is to get that moved, but as the build will be over more than 6m of underground sewer we have to get that diverted too (and still enter into a build over agreement as a small part of the sewer would still be built over). I think I am going to bite the bullet and get an Inspector round to have a look as I would always do things by the book and get the necessary permissions etc; this all might end up costing so much money in preparatory buildworks and fee's we may just not build the extension as large as originally thought and jsut do the side and not the rear, so wont be an issue.

Cyclonbri1, not sure what you mean but the sewer is owned by Anglian Water and the pipe goes all the way along the back of a row of semi-detached properties and I would imagine every house has an inspection chamber/drain cover and each houses waste water feeds into it. Sorry if I misunderstood what you were saying :eek: