helllllp - previous owner is a dangerous cowboy

alwse10

Any advice much appreciated....

We bought a house in December which had building regs completion certificate for a 2nd storey extension - applied for in 1994 but the work was not inspected and signed off until Oct 2011.
We have since discovered (after removing the plaster) that the work done was dangerously shoddy: staircase held on with 3 nails, no lintels to support the second floor, down-pipes from guttering directed underneath the house etc.
The vendor was a builder who had done the work himself. He still operates in this area and since coming to this area we have discovered that other people who have raised complaints about his work have been threatened and had their windows smashed etc.
We wondered if we have any redress against the Building Regs for signing off something which they had not actually inspected; also for signing off work done by a builder who is known locally in the area for his shoddy workmanship.
Obviously we have to put right all his work at enormous cost to us, but would rather take up an argument with the council rather than the builder in question.
Also - yes we did have a full structural survey done which also picked up none of this.
I would be interested if anyone has any ideas on how we can recoup any of these costs which we clearly had no idea about when purchasing the house....

duchy

Surely your first stop should be with your surveyer for not picking up on these issues ?

alwse10

Lintels (and lack of) were hidden underneath plasterboard and plaster.... Unfortunately surveyors even on a full structural survey make it clear they do not take off plaster or lift carpets, so i don't think there is much we can do for redress with them....

maninthestreet

Refer this issue to the surveyor who carried out the 'full structual survey' and failed to spot these issues.

alwse10

We won't get any joy from the surveyor (Countrywide):

From their report....

"No beams, lintels or other supporting components were exposed to allow examination. Consequently, we are unable to comment fully upon the condition of these concealed areas..."

Building Regs could have insisted on an inspection of what was underneath the plaster in order to sign it off. Especially given his previous history.... But they just accepted his con-story, signed off a completion certificate which then satisfied our conveyancer and hey presto we bought a house which is structurally unsound!

GAH

What type of survey did you actually have carried out when you bought the house?

alwse10

According to Countrywide this is a 'Building Survey Report'

roger196

First you need to gather written / photograhic evidence of the faults uncovered. It is a pity that you have corrected the faults as you have to some extent destroyed the evidence. You need to be able to demonstrate that these faults should have been identified by the building inspector and fall within his remit.
Next, have an informal chat with the complaints department at your local council about the best way forward. Sometimes they are keen to rectify problems without going down the formal route especially if it avoids publicity or undue interest from your councillor.
Be wary of suggesting that Mr X has made threats unless you can prove this....there are many malicious stories around, do not be tempted to add to these.

chappers

roger196 wrote: »

Be wary of suggesting that Mr X has made threats unless you can prove this....there are many malicious stories around, do not be tempted to add to these.

Also be sure of your facts as the three things you mention are not faults in their own rights, for example I just fitted a staircase the other week and it has no mecahnical fixings whatsoever.
Perhaps you could be more specific.

nomoneytoday

Does the rule of Caveat Emptor apply with house purchasing?

sonastin

If you have put it all right now, there is a limit to what you can achieve - as Roger196 said, you have destroyed a certain amount of the evidence. But for the benefit of anyone else in a similar situation...

1) it is worth getting an independent surveyor to look at the property. Just because some of the shoddy workmanship was concealed, doesn't necessarily mean that it couldn't be detected. A second opinion can tell you whether there were warning signs which the surveyor ought to have picked up on and highlighted even without being able to identify the full scale of the problem. Unfortunately I suspect that route is now closed so your surveyor is off the hook.

2) Contact the building control department and show them the work. I am surprised that they signed it off without inspecting but it is possible that they were shown something which is not the finished version. (as an example, the hole for foundations needs inspecting to make sure they are deep enough and adequately sized. the building inspector won't necessarily expect that all the soil will have been removed off site by the time he inspects. he also won't be on site when the foundations are poured. an unscrupulous builder could then backfill the hole with the soil and reduce both disposal costs and concrete costs by reducing the depth of the foundations. - without knowing the set up of your errors I can't give an example of how this builder did it but maybe that's what happened?)
An inspection of what was left compared to what they signed off can assist the council in prosecuting the shoddy builder - particularly if they already have a file on him of all his poor workmanship.
If the council signed off on it without proper inspection, you can follow their complaints procedure to see what you can get. I am not sure that there is a route for financial recompense from building control but you can certainly make sure that they do a proper job in future.