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Porch and Building Control regulations

I've used the information on Money Saving Expert website so many times but this is the first time I've had to use the forums. I'm trying to get some clarification on my house which has undergone some heavy renovation work as I may have inadvertently gotten into a pickle. The house has been extended which is nearing completion. Building control have passed all the inspection stages and it's just the final inspection that is left.

However, relatively early in the project, I decided to have a porch built as well. It's dimensions made it fall within the permitted development regulations. The porch has been built with proper foundation, double bricked walls and full insulation. We were getting underfloor heating done elsewhere on the ground floor so we decided to put it into the porch area as well. Despite requesting the builder to keep the original external door, the builder removed it and the frame before I could stop them. The original plan was to get a brand new external door on the new outer side and re-purpose the old external door on the inner side to save some cost and eventually replace it with something new in the future (maybe a year later). However, we now no longer have an inner porch door and the hallway is currently open to the porch area via the old doorway where the frame and door used to be.

Based on my own rational thinking, my options are:

  1. Immediately get a new external door and frame for the inner side of the porch before the project is complete (this is really not ideal because we didn't plan for this cost and it is not cheap).
  2. Complete the renovation work and building control final inspection without the inner door because we intend to purchase and get the inner door fitted in about 6 to 12 months. If needed, perhaps get an indemnity policy to cover the risky period before the door is installed.
  3. See if building control can retro-actively approve it as a front extension (as I believe that doesn't require an inner door). They haven't done the final inspection and they must have seen the porch while it was being built during their previous inspection visits so maybe they've seen enough to verify it? Additionally, for what it's worth, I have 100s of pictures that I took on an almost a daily basis of the porch as it was being built which will prove it is double walled, insulated, correct foundation etc. I would still want to get the inner door but it would be added at a later stage.

Ultimately, this is an honest oversight as I never set out to break any rules. I want to do the right thing given the current situation. Are the 3 options above valid? Are there any other options worth considering? Whatever option I end up taking, I want to make sure I don't expose myself to future trouble.

Comments

  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 48,692 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    You could just get the rest of your extension signed off and not worry about getting building regs approval for the porch.

    Years down the line, when you come to sell, no one is going to care. If your future buyer asks for paperwork you can give them all you’ve got. They may or may not assume that the porch was part of the work that you have signed off paperwork for. Either way after a year building control can’t enforce any changes.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages, student & coronavirus Boards, money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
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