Loft has no building regs. How do we proceed?

BLC1983

Bearing in mind the loft is said to have now been there for 36 years... Would it still be wise to get a structural engineer to take a look before we exchange contracts to see if the floor is definately structurally sound? Or would you not bother due to the age and just get the engineer in after we have moved in?

Thanks

nick74

I once put a similar question to a surveyor. There response was 'Off the record, if its been like that for 40 years and has shown no inclination to fall down yet then it probably isn't going to'.

BLC1983

Thanks nick. I agree with what the surveyor said however it will always be at the back of my mind thinking what if. So I think once we have moved in we will get an engineer out just to be on the safe side.

BLC1983

Where do we stand in regards to buildings insurance?

Do we tell them it's a 3 bedroom house still even without the building regs?

And if the loft ever did fall down would the insurance company try to get out paying due to the lack of building regs?

BobQ

BLC1983 wrote: »

Where do we stand in regards to buildings insurance?

Do we tell them it's a 3 bedroom house still even without the building regs?

And if the loft ever did fall down would the insurance company try to get out paying due to the lack of building regs?

I can see you are worried over a major decision. A structural engineer (one with an extant registration with RICS may still be worthwhile. First you will get a professionally written report which describes what a professionally qualified person thinks of the property. Second you can provide that report to your insurer or your mortgage provider. Third it will give you peace of mind.

With insurance there is only one answer tell them the truth. They need a reason to not pay a claim and so if you tell them the truth and advise them that you are not an expert but have employed one on the basis that the vendor has assured you this conversion happened before the 1984 regulations came in and if they want his report there is little that they can dispute.

I agree with others that it may be unnecessary to have structural survey and they are expensive but it may be worthwhile if it stops you worrying.

davidmcn

BLC1983 wrote: »

Where do we stand in regards to buildings insurance?

Do we tell them it's a 3 bedroom house still even without the building regs?

Yes, their question is just a clunky way of asking about the size of house. If they were interested in the details of building regs then they'd ask - but they don't.

And if the loft ever did fall down would the insurance company try to get out paying due to the lack of building regs?

Insurance covers you for specific risks - those don't include "badly-constructed alteration collapsing", whether or not it ever had building regs.

Doozergirl

If it was done in 1983, the Building Act wasn't in place. There's no need for sign off because there were no national building regulations to conform to.

The insurers are going to cover it as whatever it is. They won't cover shoddy workmanship collapsing, but after 36 years...

If you're getting a structural engineer in, I'm not sure what the benefit is of doing it after you've moved in?

You're either doing it to put the cost of any issues on the vendor, or you're buying the house and making it your own problem. One is logical, one isn't.

BobQ

BLC1983 wrote: »

Bearing in mind the loft is said to have now been there for 36 years... Would it still be wise to get a structural engineer to take a look before we exchange contracts to see if the floor is definately structurally sound? Or would you not bother due to the age and just get the engineer in after we have moved in?

Thanks

It is not clear what type of survey you gave had done. If it is just a basic valuation for mortgage purposes that may not have been enough for an old property. In a house that age, all sorts of problems may exist but all you can do is be guilded by the survey you had done. If the loft floor is suspect then in probably means that not enough underpinning was done at the time or there is some deterioration of the joists. When the regulations came in they required girders to be embeded into load bearing walls and joists transversal to the existing roof joists. Earlier that may not have happened.

BLC1983

The survey we had done was a homebuyers survey as that is what we were advised to get. All they said it the loft floor has been thickened but he's unsure whether it has been done to current or recent building regs. Obviously he couldn't see under the floorboards to see how it was constructed.

The reason I keep thinking about the structural engineer coming to view it is that It would give me total peace of mind if they say it has been done to a good standard. I know it's already been up 36 years but how do I know it's not on the brink of collapsing?

When I enquired about it I was quoted £350 to check the loft floor and it would require some of the floor being taken up so that he could have a good look. However I dont know if the vendors would be ok with this.

BLC1983

By the way the loft has a proper staircase going up to it with lots of headroom so I suppose that shows they went through the trouble of doing it properly?