Building regs obtained by previous owner

Azarazama

Hello

Having a bit of a dilemma with a terraced property I purchased 3 and a half years ago. Unfortunately i've recently started to notice that the converted basement which I acquired building regs for during the conveyancing process has started to show some serious water ingress issues with water coming through the floorboards, I've also noticed that there is rising damp on one of the pillars in the converted basement towards the rear of the property, it was only converted just before the sale and the issue may  have been slowly getting worse up until this point where the issues are now painfully visible.

We had a waterproofer come have a look who said I first port of call would be to get in touch with building control. The building reg approval was carried out by a private company as opposed to the local authority and I've got in touch with them requesting they send out a surveyor to identify what the root cause of the issue might be. On the back of some advice of a friend who is a surveyor, I also asked them how many inspections took place, and at what stages building reg came round to inspect during the conversion process. They withheld this information due to data protection and the work being contractual between the previous seller and themselves and have already suggested that this is remedial work due to poor workmanship without having even looked at the issue?

I contacted local building control for advice prior to this email response and they said that the private company should be able to provide that information. 

I understand that the building reg company is not responsible for poor workmanship, however there is no clear indication whether this is the issue as they are not sending a surveyor to inspect the it. The overall dampness of the basement and unwillingness to send anyone round is leading me to believe that something wasn't carried out properly.

I'm not quite sure where to go from here other than contacting the seller themselves as they are the ones who carried out the conversion, but obviously the slightest hint of liability will make someone run a mile. Based on the above information, am I in the right, or would this be another one under caveat emptor? I don't feel how I could have even acquired further confirmation that the conversion was sound other than the approved building regs.

Thanks

davidmcn

It's up to you and your surveyor(s) to figure out during the buying process what the condition of the property is like - compliance with building regulations is no guarantee that work has been done to a great standard, just that it appears to tick the minimum boxes as far as the regulations are concerned. There's no implied warranties by the vendor (or their contractors) in your favour.

If you've got a friend who's a surveyor, you'd be better taking their advice rather than trying to chase up the vendor's people.

AdrianC

Is there a suggestion that it didn't conform to BR at the time the work was done? How long ago was it?

Basements are always at high risk of water ingress. It's a basic fact of physics that if you dig a hole below the water table, it'll fill up.
Previous generations understood this, and didn't worry too much about trying to make basements into habitable space. But modern man thinks he knows better...
Converting basements means you can't do the single most effective thing - put an impermeable barrier outside the structure - so you're always going to be battling the water that comes through the structure and is trying to enter the space.