Private buildings control contractors v council buildings control

ey143

Any suggestions over one or the other?

My architect suggests going with a private buildings regs company (total appox. £1100 which is approx. £400 more than my local council bldgs regs dept) for a large single storey rear and major internal reworks of a house.

My neighbour's leylandii tree will be within 2.5m of my extension, he seems to think that private contractors will be more pragmatic about a solution i.e. no piling or 2.5m deep (depending on site inspection to see if the tree roots go this far).

Council said they are best as only 2 streets away and overall they are better.

Confused!

ceredigion

Been involved with several projects over the years , where the clients have employed private contract builder control officers. Whether its a good idea depends on your project . Generally they are more inclined to sit down with you and work through any issues to find the most suitable way of achieving the required regs. This is great if its some weird and wonderful project ,that leaves all the contractors scratching their heads. But if its a straight new build and all run of the mill stuff we could do it with our eyes closed, so why pay the premium. Also surely you`re paying you architect to sort out the issues so why is he recommending the private company. Of course I would never dare suggest any funny handshakes .

Doozergirl

I think your architect is right. Private BC are more pragmatic, LABC can be changeable and it really depends on who you get as to how they interpret. It can be frustrating and expensive when they overspecify for no reason but their own whim.

Once you've started, you can't change your mind. If the architect genuinely believes that £400 is going to save you £'000s, then it might be worth considering.