Building Regs - Chimney Breast Removal

carfan1

Hi All,

I apologise for the length of this post! I hope you all can advise me on my issue!

My partner and I bought our 1st house which is a 3 bed mid terrace. We have started making some alterations to the property, now we are about 8 weeks in to making these changes and someone has bought "Building Regulations" to my attention.

I can see some abuse coming my way from other forum users, but I genuinely did not know I had to get in touch with our local council regarding the changes we wanted to make as they seemed like everyday alterations!!

We have made the following changes:

1) 2 x chimney breast removals, One is a single breast on one party wall, the other one is on the other party wall and is part of a chimney breast which shares a stack with a chimney breast we are keeping. Both removed chimney breasts stacks are being support by gallow brackets with a steel joist.

Are gallow brackets the correct way of supporting the remaining stacks?

2)I have also created a through lounge by removing the wall between the living and dining room. An RSJ has been erected.

3) The kitchen was split into a morning room and kitchen so I have knocked this through into one room to increase the size of the kitchen, again an RSJ has been erected.

4) I have replaced all the windows throughout & French doors added to the back of the house.

5) A downstairs loo added under the stairs including extractor fan.

6) New combi boiler - old water tank removed from loft space, old emersion tank also removed.

7) The whole house is currently being rewired and a new fuse board fitted.

All gas work & electrical work will be signed off and certificated, the builders assure me there work is to building regs but there are some questions regarding the gallow brackets for the chimneys.

I have not yet applied to the council for this work, I had not involved an architect or a structural engineer. All houses in this area under go these changes so I did not realise I had to get permission but now after reading into it I understand it is more from a safety point of view the regulations are there.

What are the consequences of getting the council round now even though the chimney breasts and walls have already been removed?

Thanks

Doozergirl

Wow, that's a list of things that need approval! You trust your builder to have got this right? You used a builder?

Did you have a structural engineer calcualte the RSJs for you?

Gallows brackets are not accepted by many local authorities now.

You need this all checked. If it's been plastered then they need stripping back slightly.

martinsurrey

Doozergirl wrote: »

Wow, that's a list of things that need approval! You trust your builder to have got this right? You used a builder?

Did you have a structural engineer calcualte the RSJs for you?

Gallows brackets are not accepted by many local authorities now.

You need this all checked. If it's been plastered then they need stripping back slightly.

agree 100%.

OP you wont get abuse here as long as you now go about things properly, which it seems you want to do.

You have a huge list of notifiable work, everything from structure, to drainage, to electrical, to fire safety.

If you are before the plastering stage, you could get away without un doing any work, but if not you will be breaking some plaster.

you will need a structural engineer to do calculations on all of the beams you've put in (to show they are correct size and position).

as long as the rest IS up to standard you'll just need to pay a fee, speak to your builder OR building control.

I must say a builder who claims to be doing everything to standard but hasn't let building control know (which is a big part of the standard) would be ringing alarm bells.

Mojisola

carfan1 wrote: »

We have started making some alterations to the property, now we are about 8 weeks in to making these changes and someone has bought "Building Regulations" to my attention.

the builders assure me there work is to building regs

I would have expected the builder to go tell you!

carfan1

Hi Doorzergirl,

The house was built in 1902 and seems to have been left unloved since the 1970's!! Hence the amount of work that was needed.

The builders calculated the RSJ's, no structural engineer was used. The builders were recommended to me, friends, family etc have all used them and have been happy with there work so I like to think they have done the job right.

Looking online I seem to keep finding conflicting information regarding gallow brackets and what is an acceptable way of supporting the chimney breasts.

I may just have to bite the bullet and get the council in and accept the consequences!

Mojisola

carfan1 wrote: »

2 x chimney breast removals, One is a single breast on one party wall, the other one is on the other party wall and is part of a chimney breast which shares a stack with a chimney breast we are keeping.

I don't suppose you got Party Wall Agreements with your neighbours either?

Doozergirl

Mojisola wrote: »

I don't suppose you got Party Wall Agreements with your neighbours either?

Pointless even talking about it. If it were relevant, it isn't once the work is done.

Mojisola

Doozergirl wrote: »

Pointless even talking about it. If it were relevant, it isn't once the work is done.

Might be useful for someone else planning work on a terrace house.

Doozergirl

carfan1 wrote: »

Hi Doorzergirl,

The house was built in 1902 and seems to have been left unloved since the 1970's!! Hence the amount of work that was needed.

The builders calculated the RSJ's, no structural engineer was used. The builders were recommended to me, friends, family etc have all used them and have been happy with there work so I like to think they have done the job right.

Looking online I seem to keep finding conflicting information regarding gallow brackets and what is an acceptable way of supporting the chimney breasts.

I may just have to bite the bullet and get the council in and accept the consequences!

Look, I'm not going to flame you but don't even start thinking that your builder has any integrity when they ignore the most basic of things.

The reason for that is money. It cuts your bill down, makes them look cheaper than others or puts money they shouldn't have in their pockets.

Gallows brackets were acceptable. Not any more. You have had so much work carried out that you will need sign off for when you sell.

carfan1

Nope,

"In response to party wall"

If it means anything, I had made the neighbours on both sides fully aware of what I was doing and what chimney breasts i was removing.

martinsurrey

carfan1 wrote: »

Nope,

I had made the neighbours on both sides fully aware of what I was doing and what chimney breasts i was removing

party wall agreement is not an issue as the work has already been done, its too late for them to use it to complain.