Buying house with manhole under extension

F1001

Update - I have spoken with 2 of the houses in the run of the public sewer under the house and they both have manholes which have been built over by their extensions:
One of them is the last house in the run so he has made sure that he has 2 other access points to be able to deal with any blockages. He also said that as the seller's ext was done in 1998, he doubts they have an inspection cert - someone would have had a look and done a few checks and would have verbally said it's all good. So unless seller finds it, we can assume no BCO completion certificate.
The other is next door to the seller up the run and has 2 manholes (he thinks) and has covered them off with laminate flooring too but not closed them off completely - they can be accessed by pulling up his laminate floor. - I think this is what our seller has done also.
Both the houses got their extensions done before Oct 2011 so didn't get a build over agreement from TW.
They think that if there is a problem TW will try and solve it from someone else's house sewer access, or worst case they can get into the manhole - don't think they have thought about risk of any other damage that TW can cause to their property if they need to do any significant work (not as paranoid as me)...


So am thinking now, should I
1) Do a CCTV survey and request the seller to get perpetual indemnity insurance, or
2) Do a CCTV survey and request them to get retrospective consent from Thames Water, or
3) As there are likely no BCO completion certs, and all the above, go for a Plan B house and never look back?


Sorry for all these questions and posts but literally this is the only thing bugging me about this house and I am super risk averse (FTB and all) and don't want to get a house I can never sell on...

Sedge123

So if pre2011 is a build over agreement not required? I've spoken to others in the road we are buying in and they know that others have built over the pipe and are pretty confident they have no agreement

76zedfour

Dont panic, its not so bad. Prior to 4 or 5 years ago you didnt need to notify Thames Water. THE BCO oversaw any works over sewers. There should be a completion certificate from the BCO for the whole extension and associated works so phone them up. If there isnt one get the owner to request a final inspection as any prospective buyers solicitor will expect to see this. If you need to rod the sewer in the future rip the laminate up, no big deal! If there isn't a problem after 17 years I would take a guess the footings and buildover were done correctly.
If they have building reg drawings that were approved showing the sewer and the solution then that is acceptable and to be honest a pretty common solution.

F1001

Thanks 76zedfour - yeah I am definitely less worried now and will see what the seller has in place, or is willing to do to provide some more comfort that alls good.
Hopefully this won't throw up any probs with my mortgage going through.


Thanks all and good luck with yours sedge123!!!

Hoploz

You must not speak to the council.

If you do, then you will invalidate any indemnity against building regs compliance which may be required by your lender.

F1001

Oh gosh - so maybe we should forget the indemnity insurance option then because now that I know of the issue I would prefer to have everything in place properly - then if any problems arise I am not fighting the insurance company or council. And also am thinking then if any new buyers wanted to they could inform the council which would put me in a mess if I ever want to sell. Don't want to have that risk.

F1001

Update:


Build-over agreement - no problem because plans and work were done in June 1997 - requirement for a build-over agreement by Thames Water was only needed from Oct 1997


Future issues - spoke to the TW operations team (who deal with blockages and leaks etc) and they said nowadays they don't need to demolish anything when fixing stuff. As long as they can access then should be fine. In 12 years that the person who I spoke to had worked there, there was no situation where anything had to be torn down or damaged when fixing a sewer - they may need to mole through from the garden through.


Solution -
Seller needs to speak to BCO and somehow get an inspection and completion certificate issued by them.


Solicitors will contact TW and ask if approved build over in place and they will reply to confirm none is needed. Spoke to TW build over team and they will not be able to issue a retrospective build over as none was needed at the time. Common solution is to have CCTV survey done for peace of mind but that would not help comfort future buyer or me that work was done ok (just an FYI TW water usually use MTS for doing any of their CCTV surveys for build over agreements)


After I move in I can move the manhole outside with a Y connection - needs to e positioned so doesn't affect the flow of the water - this needs a build over application and agreement by TW but can be carried out by any contractor based on the drawings being approved by TW.


Insurance - will not provide cover if there is no completion certificate form the council. Will usually require a drain survey to show that I have done all checks possible to show that things are in order.


I think I am ok as long as they can get this certificate of completion from the council!...

Sedge123

Fabulous news. And thanks fir the reassurance re TW never having turn down a building. Makes me feel a lot better, we are going down the indemnity route- just waiting to hear if sellers will purchase it.... I'm on tenterhooks!

Hoploz

They wouldn't need to tear any building down. Even if old pipes need replacing they put new pipes within old pipes these days anyway, so chill!