Consveratory & Heating for Building regs

Wolfsbane2k

silvercar wrote: »

Because you want the building regs certificate. Which would then cover you when you sell.



Not a problem. The inspector won't look at other areas.



No insurance will pay out for you to put a new heating system in. A stand alone boiler just for a conservatory is over kill.

Is it not the case that the indemnity insurance is to return me to a state on the property if there is seen to be a shortfall, and this includes a loss of value in a home?
If the effective loss of value in a home is circa 5k, because a 29m2 part of it is no longer centrally heated, then that's what i'm trying to cover myself for.
And that value is driven by the cost of implementing a suitable heating system for the conservatory, therefore does the insurance not effictively cover me for the costs associated with installing a seperate heating system that is compliant to the building regs?

Or, should i try and get the conservatory signed off with the heating installed? My assumption is that this is not likely to happen, as i don't have a fensa certificate for the installation, as one wasn't required if it was a permitted development with no building regs.... :huh:

Richard_Webster

Ned to check when work was done.

The regs were changed a few years ago. Until the change it was sufficient that there were controls so that the heating in the conservatory could be separately controlled. They changed the regs so the system has to be separate in itself.

if the heating was put in before the change and is separately controlled then this should be sufficient. Sorry, I can't remember the dates but would guess 2010/11.

Wolfsbane2k

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Ned to check when work was done.

The regs were changed a few years ago. Until the change it was sufficient that there were controls so that the heating in the conservatory could be separately controlled. They changed the regs so the system has to be separate in itself.

if the heating was put in before the change and is separately controlled then this should be sufficient. Sorry, I can't remember the dates but would guess 2010/11.

I've been trying to dig into when this changed, which i think was april 2010. Unfortunately the work was done in August /September 2011, so would have been required, and hence this concern.

DRP

Wolfsbane2k wrote: »

Is it not the case that the indemnity insurance is to return me to a state on the property if there is seen to be a shortfall, and this includes a loss of value in a home?
If the effective loss of value in a home is circa 5k, because a 29m2 part of it is no longer centrally heated, then that's what i'm trying to cover myself for.
And that value is driven by the cost of implementing a suitable heating system for the conservatory, therefore does the insurance not effictively cover me for the costs associated with installing a seperate heating system that is compliant to the building regs?

Or, should i try and get the conservatory signed off with the heating installed? My assumption is that this is not likely to happen, as i don't have a fensa certificate for the installation, as one wasn't required if it was a permitted development with no building regs.... :huh:

regarding the bold bits... i don't think that is going to happen. does anyone know of a case where indemnity cover has paid out for any reason?

dominoman

This all seems like a non-issue. Future buyers won't care if there is a radiator in there or not. It won't make the slightest difference to the value of the house.

It either was permitted development that didn't need building regs (seems likely) or it did need building regulations approval on a technicality and hasn't got it, but you can get easily enough by disconnecting the radiator.

If your solicitor didn't raise any issues then stop worrying and exchange.

Wolfsbane2k

dominoman wrote: »

This all seems like a non-issue. Future buyers won't care if there is a radiator in there or not. It won't make the slightest difference to the value of the house.

It either was permitted development that didn't need building regs (seems likely) or it did need building regulations approval on a technicality and hasn't got it, but you can get easily enough by disconnecting the radiator.

If your solicitor didn't raise any issues then stop worrying and exchange.

It's a minor issue, but not a non-issue as far as I can see, but then I'm not fully up to date with the building reg rules, regs and processes... and it seems bonkers to me that I can get sign off for a building i know I'm going to change.

The solicitor didn't raise it, even though it was mentioned in the property information sheet that a conservatory was built. They asked all the other relevant building reg/planning rules that applied at the time for a conservatory build , just not this one, so they will be getting a complaint about that.

Don't worry, we're trying to exchange!


PS - Looking at the specs of the conservatory as it was meant to be built to, i think it's likely that it's actually going to pass the building regs anyway with all the insualation and the glass type that's installed. ( but yes, i know that this would require digging/drilling into the floor to prove the insulation was installed as it was speced to..

silvercar

Is it not the case that the indemnity insurance is to return me to a state on the property if there is seen to be a shortfall, and this includes a loss of value in a home?

No, the indemnity insurance covers you for any work that the council gives you an order to do.

Given that the council can't impose anything on you for lack of building regs after (I think) 1 year and the insurance is invalid if you tip off the council, the only thing that the indemnity cover gives you is to keep the mortgage lender happy if they require it. Indemnity insurance never pays out for loss of value because something wasn't done to a higher spec.

Wolfsbane2k

silvercar wrote: »

No, the indemnity insurance covers you for any work that the council gives you an order to do.

Given that the council can't impose anything on you for lack of building regs after (I think) 1 year and the insurance is invalid if you tip off the council, the only thing that the indemnity cover gives you is to keep the mortgage lender happy if they require it. Indemnity insurance never pays out for loss of value because something wasn't done to a higher spec.

Thanks for that clarification, it's worth saving myself the cost of the indemnity then as that'll be more than the cost of disconnecting the radiators! Especially as the mortgage company didn't ask for it, I was trying to be pro-active in covering myself without adding delays in going back to the vendors.

Yes, i'm a worrywort, but i wanted to control my costs.