Chimney breast removed without Building Control approval

GiftDeed

Hi,
Please don't judge me for my stupidity...

Here it goes.

In 2007 when I bought this house, I got a builder to remove the chimney breast from the living room (not all the way to the sky). I asked the builder if I needed anything from the council and he said no. Yes, I shouldn't have trusted him and I should have contacted the council but this was my first house and I wasn't aware of anything and was so excited

Anyway, he knocked down the chimney breast which was against the wall between the living room and the kitchen. He plastered the wall and he said he put some L shaped support (I don't remember the exact name).

This L shape support is not visible from outside though and I wasn't there when he finished the job so I didn't actually see him putting it. But after 6.5 years living here, the chimney above didn't come down, there is no crack or any other structural damage either on the ceiling or the wall. So I am guess he did put those support. (Also I don't have any details about the builder, I don't even remember the name of the company. It was 7 years ago )

Now we are in process of selling the house and seller is asking if we did any structural work in the house. So I have to declare this chimney breast work but I haven't got any approval/permission from the council and although I am 99% sure the builder but the support, I rather have some kind of proof to protect myself and the buyer.

My question is what can I do to make this right? Can I get a structural engineer to come and check if there is any support installed? or will indemnity insurance solve all my problems?

Any advice appreciated.

jimbog

It could be some gallow brackets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3be36bl-xk
I wonder if you could see it if you were to lift the floorboards upstairs - or in the loft if the breast was taken out upstairs too.
when I purchased my first property the rectification was necessary to support it - not a big job from what I remember

TrickyDicky101

Regarding your query on indemnity insurance, this would only protect against costs incurred should building control/the council seek to take action. What it doesn't do is guarantee that the work was performed to building regs standards at the time and so, if I was in your potential buyer's position I would still want assurance that the work was performed properly and wasn't at risk of falling down (6 years isn't a sufficient period of time to provide 'test of time' assurance in my mind).

GiftDeed

jimbog wrote: »

It could be some gallow brackets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3be36bl-xk
I wonder if you could see it if you were to lift the floorboards upstairs - or in the loft if the breast was taken out upstairs too.
when I purchased my first property the rectification was necessary to support it - not a big job from what I remember

I don't think the builder did any work on the upper floor. Is it possible to see these brackets from the ceiling? He plastered the ceiling where the chimney breast was connected, so maybe someone can use some kind of tool to see if there is any bracket there?

GiftDeed

TrickyDicky101 wrote: »

Regarding your query on indemnity insurance, this would only protect against costs incurred should building control/the council seek to take action. What it doesn't do is guarantee that the work was performed to building regs standards at the time and so, if I was in your potential buyer's position I would still want assurance that the work was performed properly and wasn't at risk of falling down (6 years isn't a sufficient period of time to provide 'test of time' assurance in my mind).

That's exactly what I thought. But how can I give this assurance. Shall I find a builder/structural engineer who can have a look at it?

And does it mean he needs to strip the plaster and I need to get it plastered again?

jimbog

Would a metal detector be useful?

GiftDeed

jimbog wrote: »

It could be some gallow brackets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3be36bl-xk
I wonder if you could see it if you were to lift the floorboards upstairs - or in the loft if the breast was taken out upstairs too.
when I purchased my first property the rectification was necessary to support it - not a big job from what I remember

Woow, looking at the video, I don't think he installed these!! If he did, I should be seeing them somewhere.. They don't look like they can be hidden...

TrickyDicky101

GiftDeed wrote: »

That's exactly what I thought. But how can I give this assurance. Shall I find a builder/structural engineer who can have a look at it?

Unless you can somehow gain retrospective building regs approval (are you certain it would have required approval?) I'm not sure anything you do would fully satisfy a potential buyer so that they don't want to perform their own investigations and adjust their offer accordingly. I can imagine that's a position you would rather avoid - it sounds like a pita but at least you are dealing with it and not ignoring it.

GiftDeed

TrickyDicky101 wrote: »

Unless you can somehow gain retrospective building regs approval (are you certain it would have required approval?) I'm not sure anything you do would fully satisfy a potential buyer so that they don't want to perform their own investigations and adjust their offer accordingly. I can imagine that's a position you would rather avoid - it sounds like a pita but at least you are dealing with it and not ignoring it.

I don't mind negotiating on the price of the house, at the end of the day this is completely my fault. But how much should I knock down from the price? Or is it better for me to get another builder to check if the proper support is installed and install if not?

ess0two

Its highly likely theres 1 or 2 RSJ's / steel beam supporting the remaining chimney breast.

GiftDeed

ess0two wrote: »

Its highly likely theres 1 or 2 RSJ's / steel beam supporting the remaining chimney breast.

Sureley these beams would be visible from outside and will require more messy job then I remember.