Council issue with Extension after Building Control Sign-Off

sivagna

Hi All,

Wonder if anyone has any information on the below:

Carried out an extension on my property with approval from the council. Building Control attended the site on several occasions and signed off the extension upon completion (approx. 2 months ago).

A neighbor has complained about the extension (I assume the size) and the council has written to me saying:

The council has received a complaint in regards to an alleged breach of planning control in relation to an unauthorised extension.  Therefore, I must carry out an inspection site visit within the next 7 x days.

I have not measured the extension to see whether it is in breach of the limitations of the agreed extension but on the assumption it is slightly too large:

1. Can the council now cause an issue as they signed off the property as being up to regulation already?
2. If they can cause an issue, would they expect me to knock down the entire extension should be it be a few cms too large.

Thanks

Section62

sivagna said:

Wonder if anyone has any information on the below:

Carried out an extension on my property with approval from the council. Building Control attended the site on several occasions and signed off the extension upon completion (approx. 2 months ago).

A neighbor has complained about the extension (I assume the size) and the council has written to me saying:

The council has received a complaint in regards to an alleged breach of planning control in relation to an unauthorised extension.  Therefore, I must carry out an inspection site visit within the next 7 x days.

I have not measured the extension to see whether it is in breach of the limitations of the agreed extension but on the assumption it is slightly too large:

1. Can the council now cause an issue as they signed off the property as being up to regulation already?
2. If they can cause an issue, would they expect me to knock down the entire extension should be it be a few cms too large.

1) Yes. Planning and Building Control are completely separate areas of legislation.  You have to comply with both.  Building Control approval doesn't make you immune from planning enforcement.

2) In theory Yes.  But in practice a small amount may be ignored, or you may be asked to make a retrospective application.

As an aside, this is a useful example of how neighbours sometimes can and do complain to the council about possible planning breaches, and that investigation/enforcement does take place.

Doozergirl

As above.  Totally different departments.   Perhaps you should measure and prepare.  It's a little unusual not to know if your house is bigger than the one you had approved.  It's what plans are for, after all. 

A neighbour complained that our house was too big.  It was built in a factory to be mm perfect. Enforcement visited unannounced but were very nice about it.    

Ant555

sivagna said:

A neighbor has complained about the extension (I assume the size)

... but on the assumption it is slightly too large:...

...should be it be a few cms too large.

Just out of interest, if the council notice doesn't mention the size of your extension then why do you think it might have been built larger?  Were there any points in the build where your contractors might have made their own decisions on positioning without confirming with you?

Doozergirl

Ant555 said:

sivagna said:

A neighbor has complained about the extension (I assume the size)

... but on the assumption it is slightly too large:...

...should be it be a few cms too large.

Just out of interest, if the council notice doesn't mention the size of your extension then why do you think it might have been built larger?  Were there any points in the build where your contractors might have made their own decisions on positioning without confirming with you?

Building control don't care what it looks like, they only want to know that whatever goes up has been built correctly.   What they deal with is no reflection on what another department deals with.   

I get a feeling that the OP possibly isn't as ignorant as they seem.   You know if you're building something different - you have to pay for it even if you're not building it. 

TELLIT01

I get that feeling too Doozergirl.  Some of the terminology is a bit strange too.  "Carried out an extension....." suggests that it may have been a self build, in which case surely the OP must know the dimensions.  Employ a builder and they will build in accordance with the plans unless asked to ignore the plans and build it larger.  They will also charge accordingly.

Something doesn't seem right here.

searchlight123

also OP says they have received  this communication from the council but 'I have not measured the extension to see if it is in breach' - surely that's the first thing you would do? probably take less time than writing out the post for this forum!

warwick2001

Did the builder not measure it, when he/she was building it?