Chimney Breast removed by council

DunxR

I'm currently selling a house which was at one point a council house. In the kitchen, the chimney breast has been removed, leaving the breast in place in the room above. This work, according to the neighbours who've live here a while, was done in the '70s/'80s by the council whilst it was still a council house. All the other houses in the area that I've seen inside have had the same work done. That date would make sense judging by the kitchen I replaced.

Couple of questions.

1. Given the council did it, would I be giving them to much credit to assume they did it correctly and put supports in (I made this assumption when I bought the house, but I was intending to knock out the remaining breast anyway and support in the loft, but never got round to doing it).
2. Would the council normally keep records of works done during that period and what was done. Don't want to contact them in case the buyers want to buy an indemnity insurance.

Just had the survey done by the buyers and the surveyor noted the missing breast during his visit.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dird

I just bought a house with the same issue. My solicitor got the seller's to take out indemnity insurance for the work.

booksurr

you misunderstand what indemnity insurance covers, it relates only to the fees charged by the council in coming out to inspect whether the works are compliant with building regs.

it does not cover:
- the cost of any works actually required to make the job compliant
- any damage caused if the place falls down as a result of poor quality workmanship or non compliant work

in other words indemnity insurance is meaningless if the concern is whether the works are "safe", especially something as simple as a chimney breast removal. Either there is evidence of support (eg gallows brackets) or there isn't. If the buyer's surveyor could not find any then either it has been hidden behind covering or possibly it's in the void between floor level so would need opening up to expose and check. No amount of insurance will may any difference to whether something is or is not there!

Dird

Assuming OPs situation is similar, proof would require the removal of floor boards/plastering and they may not be willing to do it.

If the roof/upstairs floor has remained for 30-40 years since the removal the work without cracks visible then it's probably been done right

DunxR

Thanks for the replies. I understand the indemnity insurance possibility, and it's limitations.

What I was wondering is given the council did it, whether councils in general have a track record of doing this sort of job properly and if they keep records of what they've done from that time period.

If the buyer wants a structural engineer to check it then it's going to mean at the very least floorboards taking up, if not plaster removing. Hence wondering what the chances of the council having records would be to avoid that.

For the cost of that, I may suggest to the buyer that removing the upstairs breast completely and supporting in the loft is a more cost effective solution. Plus will give them more room space.

eddddy

DunxR wrote: »

1. Given the council did it, would I be giving them to much credit to assume they did it correctly and put supports in

If I were buying, I would be reassured, if the work was done by the council.

Private homeowners might get their brother-in-law round with a sledgehammer. The council would get engineers to specify support required, adhere to whatever building regs applied at the time etc.


On a more general level, just explain the situation to the buyer. Any rational buyer shouldn't be too worried.

But if their lender insists on indemnity insurance, an insurance policy will be much cheaper than an engineer lifting floorboards etc.

Just for the sake of an example (I'm not recommending this firm in any way, because I don't know them) :

Here's what an indemnity policy might cover: http://www.gcs-title.co.uk/instant-issue/policies-glance/building-regulations/
And here's what it might cost: http://www.gcs-title.co.uk/instant-issue/quick-quote-online/

Old_Git

I would think any work would have required building control .
Your solicitor should have checked before you bought .

martinsurrey

Old_Git wrote: »

I would think any work would have required building control .
Your solicitor should have checked before you bought .

What we know as building regulations approvals came in mid 1980's (1984 Buildings Act) and building regs completion certificates came in in the 90's.

Councils don't have many records of building regs before the early to mid 1990's even in paper form.

its true what most people are saying, if its held for 40-50 years without trouble its nothing to worry about. OP should just go for the easiest way to placate the buyers solicitor.