Building Control Contravention on a house

shanclover

Hi all,
We saw a house we really liked, went to the council building control website and saw this:  
Building control contravention: unauthorised works extensions and Chimney breast removal.
The house is built in 30's and the previous owner did some extension works ( based on planning permissions it is done in 1992). Not sure whether it is the same time he got the chimney breast removed though. The current owner only lived there a few years and he said he has no clue about this. It also seems this contravention is done this year since there is 2021 at the beginning of the reference number.

I called the council and they said ask your solicitor to get insurance but to be honest I'm not sure whether it is useful or even valid since the council has already noted this issue. Council also said this is only regarding the chimney removal, not other extensions.
What do guys think we should do? I was thinking to ask the current owner to get the building control certificate retrospectively as a condition to our offer. But if say, there are building issues with chimney removal, is it going to be a serious one?

Thank you very much in advance

user1977

You need further information about what the contravention is actually about - the owner should have received notice of it anyway. Definitely for the correct property and not something put on the search in error?

staffie1

Yes, make sure you get the facts. A note on insurance: I always think insurance is all well and good, but it’s not going to stop something falling down and crushing you to death if the removal of a supporting structure has been botched!

user1977

And if they mean insurance against enforcement by the council, obviously (I hope!) you can't insure against them serving the notice they've already served. Or indeed anything else given you've spoken to the council.

FreeBear

staffie1 said: Yes, make sure you get the facts. A note on insurance: I always think insurance is all well and good, but it’s not going to stop something falling down and crushing you to death if the removal of a supporting structure has been botched!

And a chimney involves several tonnes of brick - If it does come down, there is a real risk of someone being killed and a certainty of serious structural damage. Do not take chances. If there is any doubt about the integrity of the chimney, you need to get a structural engineer to do an invasive investigation. He may recommend inserting a steel beam to support the weight (gallows brackets are no longer acceptable by most Building Control depts).

staffie1

FreeBear said:

staffie1 said: Yes, make sure you get the facts. A note on insurance: I always think insurance is all well and good, but it’s not going to stop something falling down and crushing you to death if the removal of a supporting structure has been botched!

And a chimney involves several tonnes of brick - If it does come down, there is a real risk of someone being killed and a certainty of serious structural damage. Do not take chances. If there is any doubt about the integrity of the chimney, you need to get a structural engineer to do an invasive investigation. He may recommend inserting a steel beam to support the weight (gallows brackets are no longer acceptable by most Building Control depts).

Very true. Incidentally, to illustrate your point, there are one or two you tube videos showing a chimney collapse. If that doesn’t convince people to get building regs approval with these jobs, nothing will!

shanclover

Thank you all for the prompt replies!
We will ask the owner to get the building control certificate retrospectively. 

Jumblebumble

shanclover said:

Hi all,
We saw a house we really liked, went to the council building control website and saw this:  
Building control contravention: unauthorised works extensions and Chimney breast removal.
The house is built in 30's and the previous owner did some extension works ( based on planning permissions it is done in 1992). Not sure whether it is the same time he got the chimney breast removed though. The current owner only lived there a few years and he said he has no clue about this. It also seems this contravention is done this year since there is 2021 at the beginning of the reference number.

I called the council and they said ask your solicitor to get insurance but to be honest I'm not sure whether it is useful or even valid since the council has already noted this issue. Council also said this is only regarding the chimney removal, not other extensions.
What do guys think we should do? I was thinking to ask the current owner to get the building control certificate retrospectively as a condition to our offer. But if say, there are building issues with chimney removal, is it going to be a serious one?

Thank you very much in advance

I would be very careful by considering how exactly the council became aware of this contravention

shanclover

Jumblebumble said:

shanclover said:

Hi all,
We saw a house we really liked, went to the council building control website and saw this:  
Building control contravention: unauthorised works extensions and Chimney breast removal.
The house is built in 30's and the previous owner did some extension works ( based on planning permissions it is done in 1992). Not sure whether it is the same time he got the chimney breast removed though. The current owner only lived there a few years and he said he has no clue about this. It also seems this contravention is done this year since there is 2021 at the beginning of the reference number.

I called the council and they said ask your solicitor to get insurance but to be honest I'm not sure whether it is useful or even valid since the council has already noted this issue. Council also said this is only regarding the chimney removal, not other extensions.
What do guys think we should do? I was thinking to ask the current owner to get the building control certificate retrospectively as a condition to our offer. But if say, there are building issues with chimney removal, is it going to be a serious one?

Thank you very much in advance

I would be very careful by considering how exactly the council became aware of this contravention

that's a very good point. What would be the possible reasons? I will ask the council but not sure if they would tell me. The owner said he has no clue about this.

shanclover

Jumblebumble said:

shanclover said:

Hi all,
We saw a house we really liked, went to the council building control website and saw this:  
Building control contravention: unauthorised works extensions and Chimney breast removal.
The house is built in 30's and the previous owner did some extension works ( based on planning permissions it is done in 1992). Not sure whether it is the same time he got the chimney breast removed though. The current owner only lived there a few years and he said he has no clue about this. It also seems this contravention is done this year since there is 2021 at the beginning of the reference number.

I called the council and they said ask your solicitor to get insurance but to be honest I'm not sure whether it is useful or even valid since the council has already noted this issue. Council also said this is only regarding the chimney removal, not other extensions.
What do guys think we should do? I was thinking to ask the current owner to get the building control certificate retrospectively as a condition to our offer. But if say, there are building issues with chimney removal, is it going to be a serious one?

Thank you very much in advance

I would be very careful by considering how exactly the council became aware of this contravention

Council said someone reported it. I think the previous buyer might have found it out and that could be why the sale fell through.