Building over agreement and extension

ric1982

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me here. I have searched here and its been asked before but not sure if my case would be slightly different.

I am buying a property and the searches has came back with foul drainage running under the extension and the conservatory next to it. My solicitor has raised enquiry with the vendor's solicitor that vendor needs to show Build Over Agreement.

If vendor could provide it then it should be fine but considering that extension was build over 12/13 years ago; if vendor not been able to provide one then what are the options? One option I came across which was that the vendor putting Indemnity policy which only runs for limited time (think its 10 years). Not very keen on this as it has only limited time and seems like a tick box exercise to me.

Is there a way to get the Build Over Agreement in place for this kind of existing extension?

If the build over agreement is granted and misplaced by the owner, can one request this from the water company? Can I request it after I bought it?

I read somewhere that you can call CCTV contractor and they repot back to the water company after which water company issues build over agreement but not sure how that works. (Not sure I understood it completely)

Edit: Required planning permission was applied and granted by local council when extension was build. Not sure if local council would look for build over agreement before granting this permission and if its an indication that build over agreement should be 'somewhere'.



Thanks

Hoploz

When did build-over agreements come about? I thought more recently than this was built

Hoploz

A quick search online and it looks like they started in October 2011 so before that it was covered under building regs, no specific agreement with water co required.

RedFraggle

If the extension was built that long ago the foul drain would have been the responsibility of the home owner. It was around 2010 that shared sewerage outflows to the public sewer became the responsibility of the water authority. If there was a manhole that should have been relocated or access preserved.

ric1982

I am also unsure if the manhole was there before the extension was build. (if you see the Red T junction). I think the whole thing becomes lot more complicated of the manhole was not properly moved if it was there in the past. The seller might not have done all the paper work or the paper work is lost. Is there a way to find out if the manhole was there and moved? The council's website shows planning permission being given and approved but does not have document (pdf etc.). Can I call council for these docs?

Really frustrating this whole house buying !!!!! agggh...

Hoploz

Unless there is some problem with the drains, I think you have to assume everything is fine. This work would not come under planning permission - it would come under Building Regilations. The best you can do is ask whether there is a Completion certificate for the extension work. If so then it's been inspected and signed off. If not then you may wish to make further enquiries on the works done.

Davesnave

We had to obtain a build-over agreement with our council in 1987, when we built an extension over what was then their public sewer.

Legally, it gave us permission and also set out guidance for our structural engineer, who then provided the exact detail to be followed through construction and inspection.

As I recall, the agreement did not provide protection from works that might follow. For example, it gave the council the right to enter and break up the floors to reach the sewer, which would have been interesting, since we'd been told to heavily reinforce the floors and the sewer lay 2m deep!

From our perspective, it was just legal paperwork, as we did the building according to the structural engineer's guidance and that was covered by inspections. It was not likely in our opinion that anyone would subsequently wish to access the sewer from within the building.


The sewer you show is definitely now a public sewer. My only concern is that it shows a junction within the building and I would expect that to be acessible as a matter of course. Is there an airtight inspection cover at that point? It's not ideal to have one of those indoors but nor was it against regs in the past.


In your position, I would be guided by my solicitor on the legal aspect and pay for a CCTV drainage inspection to ensure there is no physical problem with the sewer.

ric1982

Thanks Davenave and everyone who replied,

I don't know if they have forked out a manhole (if there was one) at the T junction. This is my fear exactly.

Some of the frequent responses I got from vendor is that, "oh it was done 15 years ago hence I am missing some of the paper work". And I appreciate that but it doesn't help me.

One of thing thats bothering me is that, the vendor's solicitor will advise vendor to put Indemnity cover to which my solicitor would agree but its like a bandage plaster, everyone is covered except me! I would not be comfortable to just to have indemnity cover for this particular problem.
Even with Indemnity cover, In future if we decided to have further extension, then the indemnity cover would be invalid due to inspection carry out by water company!

As per the CCTV If there are any issues in future then we have to open up ground with in the building or worse take the whole extension down. There is also danger of subsistence due to drainage leak which is even bigger risk!

This is turning out to be really sunny and stressful Sunday!

Davesnave

ric1982 wrote: »

I don't know if they have forked out a manhole (if there was one) at the T junction. This is my fear exactly.


I would want to see it. There has been a requirement for a long time to have access at points where sewers join at right angles like that.



As per the CCTV If there are any issues in future then we have to open up ground with in the building or worse take the whole extension down. There is also danger of subsistence due to drainage leak which is even bigger risk!

CCTV might be done from the next nearest inspection chamber, which could be on another person's land.


There are also less invasive ways of repairing pipes these days, besides digging them up. Often they may be re-sleeved from an external location.

ric1982

There is a manhole on the property's driveway which could an access point but its a litter further away from T junction.

ric1982

Given that there is no manhole access now for the T junction and it was covered while building extension
- Would you buy this property? Or is this a deal breaker?
If its not a deal breaker then which documents would you like check from the vendors (Personally I would not be happy with just Indemnity cover.)?
- Building Over agreement (already been asked to produce)
- Building Control Sign-off
- Building Control Permission or Approval.
- Any other relevant docs.

Update: I have just seen google earth map. Everyone on the street who has build an extension have left space on the side for the manhole except this house!

Thanks