About to exchage contracts and i learn this...

steveharvey2001

We are about to exchange contracts on a property with an extension featuring a utility room equipped with a sink and plumbing for a washing machine.

It was marketed as having this "utility room".

Our surveyor noted that the sink and washing machine drains are plumbed into the rainwater system.

See photo of sink waste running into the rainwater downpipe.



I believe thus is illegal. Correct?

If so, would we be justified asking the seller to either rectify it or discount the sale price by a sum to cover the costs of getting the job done properly?

I expect that the extension was plumbed by a cowboy and the vendors were unaware !

[Deleted User]

As far as I am aware rainwater goes into the sewer but I wait to be corrected.

http://www.diydata.com/plumbing/waste_connecting/waste_connecting.php

This seems to say that preveious drainage methods can be continued even if not considered acceptable today as long as it doesn't lead to a soakaway, if I understand the link correctly.

Hoploz

Often council permission for an extension comes with a condition that rainwater is diverted into a soakaway, new if not already the case. So I think this is a cowboy job. You need to find out where the rainwater goes.

I would consider that at this stage you're not 'about to exchange contracts' but you are simply finding things out, which is perfectly necessary. Your solicitor can raise this enquiry with the seller asking for further clarification of this item brought to your attention by the survey.

Don't worry about rocking any boats. You need to know these things. You're going to be responsible for maintenance of this building for years to come and need to know what you're dealing with!

marksoton

Without seeing the entire drainage plan it's impossible to comment fully.

Would it put me off a property? No.

natrapx

If you have separate sewers, that's an illegal connection certainly, and could be polluting your local stream/brook with some nice chemicals there, which although this will be in small amounts, can cause environmental damage.

You can also be forced to get these connected up properly, if the water company finds out! It looks fairly modern, so I doubt it would sneak by as an old connection. They need to sort this out before you exchange.

G_M

When was the extension built?
Have you seen the Planning Permission?
Have you seen the Buildings Control certification?

The drains might just be one item that is an issue.

jbainbridge

Does the drainage plan show 2 sewers?

If they are separate sewers you might take the view that sink / washing machine water will not cause a problem. However I would negotiate a reduction to get it sorted ... as if / when the water co. notice they will come after you.

Shakin_Steve

Slightly off topic, but.....how many times have we seen plasterers pour their manky water down the rainwater gulley outside in the street, or even diy mechanics pour old engine oil down there?
People just assume that it all goes to the same place as our sewerage.

silvercar

What is now the utility room may once have been an outside toilet, so that drain may very well connect to sewage.

Davesnave

Sometimes, water from the roof of extensions has been allowed to take the route into the sewer rather than to a soakaway, probably not recently, but certainly in the past.

This happened to me, where my ground conditions didn't suit a soakaway and building control acknowleged the fact. The plans passed showed a soakaway, but the BCO advised that it was not a great option in our area from previous attempts to drain through the clay. In other words he 'looked the other way.'

steveharvey2001

The house was built in the late 1980s and is part of a large 1980s development with separate surface/foul drainage.

I am convinced that this is the result of a cowboy playing fast and loose with the previous owners who are probable totally unaware what was done.

The property should never have been marketed as having a utility room if the water drainage was illegal.

I expect that the only way to get this fixed is to dig a new foul drain to the nearest chamber or use a waste pump like the Sanivite.