Retrospective build over agreement and indemnity?

Tide_rip

Hi
I am in the process of buying a house and in the searches it was discovered that a conservatory had been built adjacent to a main sewer. To cut a long story short there is an access point to the man hole cover but my understanding (which is limited!) is that there has to be 3m either side of the pipe for possible future excavation by united utilities and there isn't 3m either side? I have asked for a retrospective build over agreement but that won't cover the cost of repair or worse case scenario having to lose the conservatory so I have asked the solicitor to look into the option of indemnity cover? I wanted the view of people who are impartial? Do I need both insurance and the agreement? Is the indemnity sufficient on its own? I'm guessing should I sell this house that it is best to get as much cover as possible? What do you think?
Thank you so much

davidmcn

Tide_rip wrote: »

I have asked the solicitor to look into the option of indemnity cover? I wanted the view of people who are impartial? Do I need both insurance and the agreement? Is the indemnity sufficient on its own?

You can't get both - it'll be a condition of the insurance that you don't draw the attention of the water company to the breach.

Doozergirl

When was the conservatory built? This was only introduced in 2011 when sewers on private land became the responsibilty of water companies.

Also, the agreement is required if you build within three metres - you don't have to leave three metres for excavation. How you build depends on how far away you are.

A build over agreement is just a build over agreement. No one is going cover the cost of repairs.

rosie383

What is a build over agreement and why does it cost so much? I gather that it is like permission from the water company that you can build over the sewer. What do they do for that money? Do they carry out tests before you can start to build an extension for example? I understand that without the agreement, building regs won't sign off on the work.

Doozergirl

A buildover agreement is an agreement with the water company confirming no damage before build, the correct method for building near to a sewer (a sewer is any drain that is shared between 2 or more houses) and confirms no damage after. It means they will continue to take responsibility for any faults.

They give you a buildover agreement for the money.

Everything is up to you. CCTV, detailing where you intend to build and gettin Building Tegs sign off. You won't get building regs without the agreement and you won't get the final certificate without building regs.

rosie383

Thanks Doozergirl. That is a bit clearer for me. Is CCTV where they use a camera to look into the pipes before and after? And if you have an experienced builder, it shouldn't be a problem? The sewerage map shows the sewer running along the back of the house and the adjoining house which has an extension. So it is is possible to build, it just requires a bit more care?

Doozergirl

Yes, Rosie, to all of that.

Manholes create a little more complication. You aren't allowed to build over them so that they are in your house. You wouldn't want to do it anyway, but some builders try to recommend it. It isn't allowed, so the manhold has to be re-sited outside the building.

Other than that, it isn't rocket science. The utility companies provide technical guidance on how and where foundations and build overs should be.

rosie383

Thanks so much. I'm pretty sure we didn't see a manhole cover there and there wasn't one on the water search map, so hopefully that helps.

snappy_coder

Hi I wondered what your eventual decision was on this matter? We are facing a similar dilemma regarding a detached garage that is partially built over a main public sewer that runs under the properties garden we are purchasing. The sellers are getting a retrospective build over agreement drawn up by Northumbrian Water but it leaves us liable for any future damage to the sewer resulting from the garage. Potentially Northumbrian Water could demolish the garage without compensation.

I'm not sure if there are options for getting indemnity from these possible risks - but we are more concerned as to how it might put of future buyers. Should we pull out? Try renegotiating the price? Or are these type of agreements actually fairly common, have low risk, so maybe we should just sign and proceed?

rosie383

I have just been looking into this today. The one thing that is really clear is that you can't get indemnity insurance for anything if you apply for retrospective planning permission,build over permission,or similar. I read all of the small print today and it is a very clear condition of the insurance. So as others have said, once any other interested party is contacted re any type of consent,you can't get indemnity insurance.

In my case, I rang Thames Water today and just asked straight out about the sewer that was running along the back of the property and whether we could build an extension over it if we applied for permission. Thankfully the very helpful lady on the phone pulled up the details immediately and confirmed that it was easy to do and just took a wee bit more money and time, but the sewer should not pose a problem.

djedga

We are purchasing a property with a conservatory built over a drain run.

- There is apparently an inspection hatch (under the carpeted floor)...
- No build over agreement was sought.
- No planning was sought
- Roof is leaking and repair done (under guarantee) recently

Think we need some indemnity insurance and our solicitors have stated very clearly in the communications with us not to contact the local authority! I assume this is because doing so would invalidate any such insurance.