Loft coversion asked to be paid by bacs

sean9461

If a company advises that they can remove posts shouldnt they be providing this documentation as part of the work?

At no point was I informed about it. Didn't have a chance to do any research in full in regards to this as they finished in a day. I asked them loads of questions about everything they were doing and everything seemed legit. I was expecting paperwork etc. Then they left without giving any docs. Only recieved an email with an invoice asking me to pay by bacs!

Doozergirl

Building regulations are the homeowner's responsibility. That said, I don't expect people to know what needs it and would never touch a job without organising inspections myself. But it's fair to say that any work carried out under the instruction of a structural engineer needs signing off.

Your next move is to request the SE details from the 'builder' before you pay, book an inspection and get the specifications from them in writing. You need what is specified and what is carried out to match. This costs more than just looking.

Then you need to contact building control to inspect it. A private firm maybe better for you at this point. Again, you pay for this.

The chip board will have to come up in at least some places and the insulation removed for inspection. Your builders job here, I should think, before they get paid.

Section 75 is actually useless. Your homework should have been well done before you thought about kicking the dirt over at the end. You instructed work without the necessary consents.

How can you be worried about roof collapse and not think that building control were necessary? It's your roof! The 'roof over your head' as the phrase indicates, is the singularly most important element of what makes a home.

What is the actual purpose of this new room?

sean9461

There's no purpose at the moment other than for storage of all our suitcases, Christmas tree spare clothes etc etc it was so dusty up there before I couldn't even breath and very hard to walk on the very old 1950s cieling joists.

I must admit I only became a home owner 6 months ago. I'm new to all this and I did do a heck of a lot of research before hand. However evidently not enough.

We just needed to be able to store things up there and it was way to dusty and felt unsafe at the moment. I opted for the structural floor as they advised me if I ever plan on doing a full coversion the floor would need to be ripped up. So they convinced me to pay slightly more to have the structural flooring for the future.


So if I understand you correctly I need to request the structural engineer details from builder and full specifications of what they have done?

To be honest with you I felt like I was kinda being too interested I kept asking them loads of questions and it was if they aren't use to it. I felt like most people would expect the builders to know what they were doing. I was worried about the house and wanted to make sure I knew exactly what they were doing so was on at them all the time.

To be honest I hadn't even heard of building control until about 6 months ago when I was first buying a house.

I guess I have a lot to learn!

Doozergirl

What your builder has done will be evident to any building professional once they get a view of it. No point in asking the builder, It has to be inspected.

Thinking about it further, perhaps an independent structural engineer would be better. I think you need to involve this builder in the process though. Please check the SE's firm and registration, just in case.

The structural engineer needs to visit and see the work. If it is the original one and they have produced specs, all good. They need to compare the work specified to the work carried out. If it is different, it may need a new spec and more work OR the SE may say that what is there will 'stand up' and alter the spec to match the end product.

Building control then need to inspect. Normally they would check what the builder has done is correct but given that your builder is an idiot, we need the structural engineer to do that first now so the building control officer has nothing to complain about when they eventually see the work.

I can't tell you how much builders hate being hovered over. It makes the good ones feel untrusted and affects the relationship. It obviously doesn't help anyone if you can hover over them and not know you have the wrong builder in.

The builder had a point about future loft conversions, however the work needs to be inspected against loft conversion standards or it could still have to be done again! The layout is also important as the stairs location may be limited by the required head height above them. That means that the floor structure has to be designed with the stairs in mind or you could have extra work there.

Ultimately, you fo not pay a penny now until you know that you have met required standards.

Well done, at least, for providing us with enough information to work out where the real problem is. There's nothing more infuriating than people trying to work out a solution for themselves and asking us lot the wrong questions to get the right answer.

Where are you based? Wondering if we can recommend an SE or building control.

sean9461

Thanks for all the help I appreciate it. I'm based in the north east Middlesbrough. The only thing I'm concerned about is extra cost that I'm gonna have to pay as a result of this. I emailed the builder first thing this morning after you mentioned building control they just emailed back saying because I don't have a habitable room it doesn't need building control however he states I don't need a building control certificate but if I would prefer for my piece of mind I have to pay 300 pounds for him to put in an application to building control?

Silver-Surfer_2

sean9461 wrote: »

Thanks for all the help I appreciate it. I'm based in the north east Middlesbrough. The only thing I'm concerned about is extra cost that I'm gonna have to pay as a result of this. I emailed the builder first thing this morning after you mentioned building control they just emailed back saying because I don't have a habitable room it doesn't need building control however he states I don't need a building control certificate but if I would prefer for my piece of mind I have to pay 300 pounds for him to put in an application to building control?

He's correct, without building regs, proper stairs fire doors etc you don't have a habitual room. You just have the same as a couple of packs of loft boards for resale and value terms.

sean9461

I've just had an email back saying they need payment today due to wages running over and materials. He said they are not normal builders they specialise in only lofts and can self cert their work?

He said the perlin they removed wasn't load bearing anymore as I had a 2 story extension added 7 years ago which would of used structural calculations to open up a hip.

In this instance they use TRADA to calculate load bearing distances between joists

He said they have a seperate iwa gaurentee and I replied to this saying don't I get documentation about it

I'm completely lost as to this. It seems like they are really wanting this payment ASAP

Silver-Surfer_2

sean9461 wrote: »

I've just had an email back saying they need payment today due to wages running over and materials. He said they are not normal builders they specialise in only lofts and can self cert their work?

He said the perlin they removed wasn't load bearing anymore as I had a 2 story extension added 7 years ago which would of used structural calculations to open up a hip.

In this instance they use TRADA to calculate load bearing distances between joists

He said they have a seperate iwa gaurentee and I replied to this saying don't I get documentation about it

I'm completely lost as to this. It seems like they are really wanting this payment ASAP

You need to comply with building regs, they can't self certify.

Silver-Surfer_2

What did you employ this builder to do? What was in your contract, a loft conversion, floor to building regs to be completed at a later time or a non habitable storage space?

sean9461

They seem like a large ligitimate company I had to wait 6 weeks for them to come as they were fully booked across the uk. And the day they left me yesterday they said they were off to London for another job. So I honestly don't believe they are a bad company I just like to have documentation to satisfy me that it's done right