Anybody ever managed to withdraw from a Local Authority Building Control application and go private?

claire.2012

As the title says really - a private building control inspector has been recommended to us after we’ve already paid the council and had a couple of site visits. We’ve got a building control inspector that really loves their job and is being excessively pedantic. Getting sick of it and want to go elsewhere. Is there a way out?

Many thanks in advance

Doozergirl

Bad news, I'm afraid. Once it's done, it's done.

Some of the inspectors are 'pedantic', but remember that Building Regulations are a minimum standard. They're not causing any harm by trying to enforce them.

claire.2012

Doozergirl wrote: »

Bad news, I'm afraid. Once it's done, it's done.

Some of the inspectors are 'pedantic', but remember that Building Regulations are a minimum standard. They're not causing any harm by trying to enforce them.

What if we no longer wanted to continue with the work and “cancelled” it all?
I really do get that they have rules to follow but when we are talking about doing what our neighbours have done (it’s literally a matter cms in respect of insulation) and theirs has been passed privately yet were told ours won’t be with the council it’s pretty annoying!

Doozergirl

Your house will be warmer than theirs.

Have you just done it on Building Notice?

You moght have to do some work to show that whst you are proposing meets the required u Values.

I've had to argue the toss with a building inspector before and linked them to relevant legislation when they expected us to make a garage roof confrom to regs for a habitable room 'just in case'. Mmm, yeah, no. They did back down.

What are you trying to use, where and what do they want?

System

Building inspectors are in the most part absolutely fine, even the pedantic ones, all they need is for a builder to be meeting the minimum regs. It's up to you to prove compliance with the regs and good builders generally do that without hassle, if you're working on a building notice and the builder is complaining about having to meet regs I would worry...

claire.2012

the_r_sole wrote: »

Building inspectors are in the most part absolutely fine, even the pedantic ones, all they need is for a builder to be meeting the minimum regs. It's up to you to prove compliance with the regs and good builders generally do that without hassle, if you're working on a building notice and the builder is complaining about having to meet regs I would worry...

Thanks for responding. To be honest that’s not the case here. I can’t really explain what the situation is as I’m not a tradesperson and don’t know if I fully understand it myself properly to be honest! It’s my husband (who is a tradesmen) and a builder working together. Husband is a stickler for boxes being ticked so I know there’s no corners being cut.

claire.2012

Doozergirl wrote: »

Your house will be warmer than theirs.

Have you just done it on Building Notice?

You moght have to do some work to show that whst you are proposing meets the required u Values.

I've had to argue the toss with a building inspector before and linked them to relevant legislation when they expected us to make a garage roof confrom to regs for a habitable room 'just in case'. Mmm, yeah, no. They did back down.

What are you trying to use, where and what do they want?

Yes it’s on a building notice. We’ve got someone coming out to do u values calcs this week for bifolds.

I think I was wrong about it being an insulation issue. I don’t fully understand it to be honest!

Doozergirl

If you do understand it at some point, then we can try and help.

The best (MSE) bet is to prove that what you propose meets standard.

You can't cancel the job. Perhaps you could just leave it sitting there and try to make a new application that sounds different (ie. pay the new people too), but you won't get any money back from LABC and they may well pick up that you already have an open application. Bit pointless to me.

stuart45

A friend of mine was building his own house and went through Building Control, only to find out that the bank woundn't lend him enough without going through the NHBC as well, so he had both checking the work.
Never had any real problems with BCO's myself, just keep the work to a high standard. If unsure don't be afraid to ask their advice.

Doozergirl

stuart45 wrote: »

A friend of mine was building his own house and went through Building Control, only to find out that the bank woundn't lend him enough without going through the NHBC as well, so he had both checking the work.
Never had any real problems with BCO's myself, just keep the work to a high standard. If unsure don't be afraid to ask their advice.

That's different. Most mortgage lenders require a 10 year warranty on new builds in order to lend. The warranty provider will carry out 2/3 technical audits, but Building Control is totally separate.

Any one can choose to hire LABC or a private Approved Building Inspector for any project. You just have to decide beforehand. You can't swap.

stuart45

He fell out with the NHBC after taking too long to finish the build, but I think he did get a refund from them, so it was left the the BCO to sign off the work.