Building regs open plan conservatory

lincroft1710

I spent 35 years of my working life visiting and inspecting buildings and live in a house with dormer windows, but have never come across a "2 storey dormer"

sheramber

Section62 said:

Also the advice you were given in your anonymous enquiry was wrong.  Retrospective approval (regularisation) is based on the regulations that were in force at the time the work was completed, not the current regs.  So if they weren't required when your conservatory was done then you wouldn't need to add hard wired smoke alarms/heat detectors/floor insulation/etc just for the purposes of regularisation.

Wanting an indemnity policy meant you couldn't have a free and frank conversation with building control which would have led to you finding out that regularisation was easier than you thought, and with regularisation the buyer's solicitor would (presumably) have been satisfied, and perhaps a completed sale the first time round.  Indemnity policies aren't always the miracle cure, they can also be the cause of problems.

When we bought our house 16 years ago, the attic conversion on the bungalow had had planning approval but not building regs.  It had been done 8 years before.

The seller was requested to get building regs and to do that the conversion had to be brouht up  to the current standards.

A sum of money was retained by my solicitor until thre work was done.  The seller paid for the work and was then passed the retained  money when the work passed inspection.

Section62

sheramber said:

Section62 said:

Also the advice you were given in your anonymous enquiry was wrong.  Retrospective approval (regularisation) is based on the regulations that were in force at the time the work was completed, not the current regs.  So if they weren't required when your conservatory was done then you wouldn't need to add hard wired smoke alarms/heat detectors/floor insulation/etc just for the purposes of regularisation.

Wanting an indemnity policy meant you couldn't have a free and frank conversation with building control which would have led to you finding out that regularisation was easier than you thought, and with regularisation the buyer's solicitor would (presumably) have been satisfied, and perhaps a completed sale the first time round.  Indemnity policies aren't always the miracle cure, they can also be the cause of problems.

When we bought our house 16 years ago, the attic conversion on the bungalow had had planning approval but not building regs.  It had been done 8 years before.

The seller was requested to get building regs and to do that the conversion had to be brouht up  to the current standards.

A sum of money was retained by my solicitor until thre work was done.  The seller paid for the work and was then passed the retained  money when the work passed inspection.

Regulation 18(2)(d) states -

d) so far as is reasonably practicable, a plan showing any additional work required to be carried out to secure that the unauthorised work complies with the requirements relating to building work in the building regulations which were applicable to that work when it was carried out (in this regulation referred to as “the relevant requirements”).  [my bold]

It might be advisable to go further than required (e.g. on safety-related matters), but the legal requirement relates to the regulations as they were when the work was done, not the current regs.

Albermarle

lincroft1710 said:

I spent 35 years of my working life visiting and inspecting buildings and live in a house with dormer windows, but have never come across a "2 storey dormer"

Not being 'in the trade', I assumed it was some kind of well known description, as otherwise I could not work out what it meant.

AIEmpire

lincroft1710 said:

I spent 35 years of my working life visiting and inspecting buildings and live in a house with dormer windows, but have never come across a "2 storey dormer"

Okay maybe not the right terminology - the surveyor described it as an "two storey outrigger".

lincroft1710

AIEmpire said:

lincroft1710 said:

I spent 35 years of my working life visiting and inspecting buildings and live in a house with dormer windows, but have never come across a "2 storey dormer"

Okay maybe not the right terminology - the surveyor described it as an "two storey outrigger".

In other words a 2 storey extension which is only about half the width (or less) of the main part of the house. In the past these were sometimes called "outshots"

AIEmpire

For those who might be interested - had an informal chat with Building Control, and they said that any replacement would need to be compliant with current U values for maximum heat loss, etc. Which means that essentially I will have to go through the process of getting plans drawn up, planning permission, etc. All the while I have a hole in the roof! House insurance won't cover anything other than a like for like replacement (even though it wouldn't be compliant with BR), because it would be an "improvement to the property". What a nightmare this is turning out to be!

silvercar

Is a repair, as opposed to replacement, notifiable for building control regs? 

AIEmpire

silvercar said:

Is a repair, as opposed to replacement, notifiable for building control regs? 

Unfortunately a repair is not possible, as the manufacturer of the roofing product ceased trading in 2017, so will need a completely new one I think anything over 25% replacement of a "thermal element" is notifiable. 

Doozergirl

AIEmpire said:

For those who might be interested - had an informal chat with Building Control, and they said that any replacement would need to be compliant with current U values for maximum heat loss, etc. Which means that essentially I will have to go through the process of getting plans drawn up, planning permission, etc. All the while I have a hole in the roof! House insurance won't cover anything other than a like for like replacement (even though it wouldn't be compliant with BR), because it would be an "improvement to the property". What a nightmare this is turning out to be!

Why would you need drawings and planning permission to meet the building regulations? 

Unless you're in a listed building or a designated area, you don't need either.  

I think you need to look at doing this properly or 'undoing' it properly because if you kitchen is in a conservatory it's a massive red flag for mortgage companies and even an indemnity policy might not be enough to satisfy them.