Extension pre 2011 with building control sign off but no buildover agreement

DAnte01

Hi All,

I found a number of threads on build over agreements but I haven't been able to find a thread re my specific situation.

I am about to buy a house with extension build in the late 90s for which there is a permission and building control sign off. It's built over public sewers/drains and there is no build over agreement. From what I understand, since it's build before 2011, it should be fine. However, I read that this only applies if the sewers were private before, which is indeed the case if the sewers were build after 1 October 1937. Lucky me...the house is build at the exact same year so it's not totally clear if the sewers were in existence before that date. Hence, it was technically possible that the pipes became public after 1937 and so were not private before 2011, which would then imply that perhaps build over agreement was indeed needed? 

I called Thames Water and they said if the extension received sign off, then nothing to worry about. But then I called the local council and they said that yes this is likely to be the case but couldn't give me definitive answer whether building sign off would have captured build over agreement. I plan to call them again on Monday, but wondering if anyone has dealt with similar case (i.e. house build before 1937 and extension built before 2011 with building control sign off)?

Thanks!

Section62

DAnte01 said:

From what I understand, since it's build before 2011, it should be fine. However, I read that this only applies if the sewers were private before, which is indeed the case if the sewers were build after 1 October 1937.

This also only applies if the drains serve more than one property - a pipe serving only one property is almost always private.

It is also possible to have a public sewer on your property which doesn't serve that property.

So first things first, is the built-over part in your case serving more than one property? And was it doing so in 1937?

DAnte01

Thanks - yes, the pipes are running through several of the adjacent houses. Not fully sure if that was the case in 1937, I would imagine yes.

Bendy_House

Are there manholes on your property that serve this sewer? Is there room either side of the extension where - in the very worst case scenario - access could be dug in order to sleeve or mole a repair/replacement?

Does anyone know how well an indemnity policy could protect DAnte01 - eg that could prevent/cover TW from going through their floor instead of sorting it from outside?

DAnte01

Thanks Bendy_House. Yes, there is a manhole approx. 1m away on the side of the extension. Also have booked in a drain survey to check the condition of the pipes.

I checked about indemnity and our solicitor said we can get it for several hundred pounds that covers up to the value of the property in case they have to rip out the extension (sounds a bit too much to get full value cover if TW will likely only damage the extension but haven't really done much research on this area yet). The only problem that I see as of now is that is only for 10 years.  

Bendy_House

The onus is usually on the seller to cover such things.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

Does anyone know how well an indemnity policy could protect DAnte01 - eg that could prevent/cover TW from going through their floor instead of sorting it from outside?

An insurance policy cannot prevent a statutory undertaker exercising their powers.

It could pay out enough money to make it worth the while of the statutory undertaker to adopt an alternative approach.