Lack of Building Regulations and Planning Permission

gooner63_2

My Victorian house has no building regs....will it kill me ?

Furts

Societys child - I am not saying will, I am simply giving a few examples. I appreciate you are ribbing me, but cowboy building is an issue (always assuming you are not a cowboy builder...and I am sure you are not!) .Of course it does not mean problems will not exist ( there are always means to evade) but an attempt is being made!

gooner63 you should be OK! Build Regs were brought in after the demise of Victorian craftsmanship, in an attempt to combat cowboy builders

spottydog

If the extension has been there longer than the time where council can request it's pulled down and your surveyor has found it is fine then what is the problem? I'd trust something that has been in for a while with no paperwork much more than something just built with paperwork (look at the experience of brand new homes). After all the Victorians built houses with no foundations and many other things that wouldn't meet current building regs and I don't see government issuing notices for all the Victorian hoses to be pulled down.

If necessary for the mortgage get the owner to buy an insurance policy.

Yorkie1

spottydog wrote: »

If the extension has been there longer than the time where council can request it's pulled down and your surveyor has found it is fine then what is the problem? I'd trust something that has been in for a while with no paperwork much more than something just built with paperwork (look at the experience of brand new homes). After all the Victorians built houses with no foundations and many other things that wouldn't meet current building regs and I don't see government issuing notices for all the Victorian hoses to be pulled down.

If necessary for the mortgage get the owner to buy an insurance policy.

The trouble with these scenarios is that the surveyor cannot generally actually say that it is fine from a mere visual inspection. How do you prove the foundations are correct? Insulation? Wiring? Impossible without invasive inspection, which the seller would not permit.

spottydog

Yorkie1 wrote: »

The trouble with these scenarios is that the surveyor cannot generally actually say that it is fine from a mere visual inspection. How do you prove the foundations are correct? Insulation? Wiring? Impossible without invasive inspection, which the seller would not permit.

You risk that with all parts of the house not just the extension, in fact the extension if it was recent is probably likely to be safer from the electrics than changes made 10 years ago before the regulations limiting non-qualified electricians for large areas came into practice. And as per my other post victorian houses have been around for 100+ years without more than token foundations, I can't imagine even the dodgiest of builders would consider building without now and I've sen many houses with settling problems (i.e. internal cracks that come and go) after a number of years due the the different building practices used for extensions compared to original and therefore the walls moving at different times. Also the council wouldn't require digging down to see the foundations, electrics etc. as they are town planners not skilled engineers in all areas of home building, they just check it meets the general standards and isn't against general regulations for the area such as distance from boundaries, visual impact on neighbours. Maybe the owner has some sort of warranty from the builder etc. as that would be worth far more to me than anything a council pen pusher provides.

connielee640

this is a very serious matter, i suppose

planning_officer

spottydog wrote: »

Also the council wouldn't require digging down to see the foundations, electrics etc. as they are town planners not skilled engineers in all areas of home building, they just check it meets the general standards and isn't against general regulations for the area such as distance from boundaries, visual impact on neighbours. Maybe the owner has some sort of warranty from the builder etc. as that would be worth far more to me than anything a council pen pusher provides.

Mmm Council pen pusher?!

Yes, planners are only concerned with what it looks like externally and its impact on neighbours etc. However, Council Building Control Officers are trained surveyors, engineers etc - and yes, they are likely to want to see the foundations. Bit mixed up here re. the function of planning and building regs = completely different!