No building regulation compliance certification for conservatory

skm1981

Jeepers_Creepers said:

It does appear to sit on a raised plinth and, to be honest, the whole thing looks very well finished - clearly a fair bit of money has been spent on it. 

That's no guarantee it's been done properly, of course, but it makes it much more likely that it has. I'd ask your solicitor to try and get some evidence from the sellers of the prep work carried out (ie, mainly the founds, but ideally also what the floor slab has in it) - most folk take photos, for example, of the stages of the build, just out of future interest or to show their families by email or facebook, for example. 

They should really have some invoices too - and this might be detailed enough to show insulation sheets, a ton of concrete, etc... 

The current owners have only lived there a few years so I think this would have been done before their time.  Hopefully it will show up on the searches as I assume that when they moved in, they would have had the same issue raised by their solicitor.

I have my survey being done tomorrow, so if there are any issues with how it's built, he or she will raise it.

davidmcn

skm1981 said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

It does appear to sit on a raised plinth and, to be honest, the whole thing looks very well finished - clearly a fair bit of money has been spent on it. 

That's no guarantee it's been done properly, of course, but it makes it much more likely that it has. I'd ask your solicitor to try and get some evidence from the sellers of the prep work carried out (ie, mainly the founds, but ideally also what the floor slab has in it) - most folk take photos, for example, of the stages of the build, just out of future interest or to show their families by email or facebook, for example. 

They should really have some invoices too - and this might be detailed enough to show insulation sheets, a ton of concrete, etc... 

The current owners have only lived there a few years so I think this would have been done before their time.  Hopefully it will show up on the searches as I assume that when they moved in, they would have had the same issue raised by their solicitor.

If there wasn't a building regulations or planning application, there won't be anything to show up on the searches..

skm1981

Well I thought it didn't require building regs or planning permission anyway.  So I queried with my solicitor, and she said "If the construction meets permitted development it should be fine and no further documents required in this respect however the important bit to check is for the glazing which will always require compliance certification (usually FENSA or CERTASS)"  but I thought FENSA didn't apply to conservatories.  

davidmcn

If it's been there for over 12 years without the window police visiting, I think you'll be fine.

Jeepers_Creepers

skm1981 said:

The current owners have only lived there a few years so I think this would have been done before their time.  Hopefully it will show up on the searches as I assume that when they moved in, they would have had the same issue raised by their solicitor.
I have my survey being done tomorrow, so if there are any issues with how it's built, he or she will raise it.

Ah, so it's looking very unlikely you'll get any first-hand info on how well it was built - unless the owner at the time passed this on to the current ones.

My take would be to be not bovvered; if the survey reports now't amiss, and it looks in reality as nice and well finished as it does in the pics, then what could go wrong with it now?! Ok, perhaps the floor doesn't have insulation in it, but it is just a connie.

skm1981

It does look really nice in person, it was one of the things that I really loved about the house.  I believe it is triple glazed and all I know about the flooring is it's Karndean, which I think is some kind of fancier laminate.

Doozergirl

skm1981 said:

It does look really nice in person, it was one of the things that I really loved about the house.  I believe it is triple glazed and all I know about the flooring is it's Karndean, which I think is some kind of fancier laminate.

Karndean is a luxury vinyl.  It's an excellent, long lasting, heavy wearing product.