Removed chimney stack without building regs

kayleighae

Buying a house for the first time, the letter received today from the solicitors says...The seller has advised that they have removed the chimney stack however they did not obtain the necessary building regulation approval. The solicitor has asked that the seller provides an indemnity insurance policy for the lack of building reg approval and this will provide cover for any enforcement action taken by the council as a lack of certificate.
What are the chances that the council would take enforcement action? My partner wants to request that the current owner obtains retrospective building regs before we purchase. Is this necessary?

Mocha61

The council are very strict regarding planning regs we are going through this at the moment where builder put incorrect support for chimney stacks, and didnt have any idea about what was needed. Enforcement notice has been issued to get it sorted.

PasturesNew

It's difficult to work out how useful that piece of paper would turn out to be if they dig it out of the rubble, alongside your body, as the entire top half of the house and roof had slipped due to not being supported....

That's the issue - not that they didn't get building regs, not that the Council 'might' want it sorted .... but that it might be actually a death sentence for anybody sitting in that house at any random future point.

Lungboy

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's difficult to work out how useful that piece of paper would turn out to be if they dig it out of the rubble, alongside your body, as the entire top half of the house and roof had slipped due to not being supported....

That's the issue - not that they didn't get building regs, not that the Council 'might' want it sorted .... but that it might be actually a death sentence for anybody sitting in that house at any random future point.

House collapse from removing a chimney stack? The breast I could understand, but the stack?

jamei305

Lungboy wrote: »

House collapse from removing a chimney stack? The breast I could understand, but the stack?

Depends if it's the whole stack or just the bit under the attic!

Davesnave

Lungboy wrote: »

House collapse from removing a chimney stack? The breast I could understand, but the stack?

People, even solicitors, are capable of being careless with language, especially when reporting the words of a fourth party obtained via a third party...

This needs clarification, especially because people who do stuff without informing the relevant authorities may be prime candidates for cutting other corners.

kayleighae

Sorry it is the downstairs only, its the chimney stack from the dining room and the living room stack remains.

Lungboy

Ah, that's why I was confused. Usually the stack is only the bit above the roof, the breast is the supporting structure inside the house.

Davesnave

To be clear, the stack is only the bit that pokes out of the roof.

The chimney breast(s) are the bits that hold this up and protrude into rooms and the loft.

If one chimney breast has been removed in the dining room, then there should have been a structural modification to carry the weight of the chimney breast above, which probably passes through a bedroom.

kayleighae

Sorry the letter from the solicitor says stack, but you are right the chimney on the roof is still there and the only room which has been changed is the dining room. My Dad says this could be ok as long as a lintel has been put in place. We have waited a week for the survey, so hopefully that will give us more information. My partner is mainly worried about the council taking enforcement action, and even though the seller must agree to an indemnity policy it will still be us who are inconvenienced with building work.

leveller2911

kayleighae wrote: »

Sorry it is the downstairs only, its the chimney stack from the dining room and the living room stack remains.

If the chimney breast they took down was on the party wall between 2 houses they have commited an offence by not apply for a "party wall agreement" which can be a big problem in the future. Party wall agreements can cost anything from £1,000+ and are there to protect the neighbours propertiy from damaged caused from structural work carried out on the adjoining property.

If its a detached house then this wouldn't be an issue.. If its a semi and the work was done in the past few years its a big issue, with or without building regs.

If the current owner carried out structural work without building regs then what else have they done without conscent/regs?. This would ring alarm bells for me and I'm in the building industry.