Building inspectors / controllers

Paulpen

Hi guys - was wondering if someone could clear all this process up a bit for us ?

We have got planning permission for an extension and have the builder lined up to start near the end of the year.

The builder has informed us that they are happy to use any building inspector that we appoint but we have been told by a few people so far ( architect, structural engineer etc) to avoid the council ones for various reasons.

This has left us trying to find an independent one - the only seem to be 3 that are in our area (Somerset). All of them have been emailed details and the plans etc but we have not even heard back from 2 of them - is this normal or can anyone advise on the process with the inspector side of things ?

DRP

My builders had a pet private building control company, and weren’t overly happy that I wanted to go with my council BC.

BANES might cover your area and in my experience (2 extensions) are cooperative, responsive and easy to contact.

ThisIsWeird

Hi Paul.
Did these folk explain the various reasons to avoid the Council's BCO? Is there a particularly notorious fellow there for instance?

Doozergirl

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Paul.
Did these folk explain the various reasons to avoid the Council's BCO? Is there a particularly notorious fellow there for instance?

I've always preferred approved inspectors as they're more customer service minded, but have no objection to LABC.   

There are areas, though, where LABC is under-resourced and they're not responding to requests for inspections as quickly as they should.  It holds up jobs.  

The problem may become wider with the changes under the Building Safety Act, requirements to become registered as 'competent' imminently and people actively leaving the job.  

Bigphil1474

Depends why they say avoid the council ones - if they are super busy in your area, then that's gonna add delays and makes sense. If it's some sort of council worker slur, then I'd disagree. I work with the local council BC team all the time, and they are great if not a little understaffed at times. Never had any issues that have affected me though, and they know the job. I think it gives me a little more reassurance knowing they are 'public servants'.

TELLIT01

I've only experienced BC once and that was local authority staff.  I wasn't impressed.  The work had to be delayed because the inspector didn't turn up for the first appointment.  The final visit was made by somebody who didn't have a clue what they were doing.  They said they had never seen a lightweight solid roof before, this is on a conservatory, and asked me what the construction was and a number of questions about how it was attached to the building etc.  I told them that somebody had been out during the construction to which they replied "Oh, have they.  I suppose it must be OK then" and left.

Paulpen

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Paul.
Did these folk explain the various reasons to avoid the Council's BCO? Is there a particularly notorious fellow there for instance?

Mainly due to them being slightly more flexible, realistic and having the customer in mind.

It seems like the council ones are by the book (which there is nothing wrong) which can cause issues with olde buildings etc. One example I was given is that a the inspector was not happy with a drain being milimeterers in the wrong place so it had to be changed at a cost of thousands. Another was that an in ceiling ventilation pipe was inspected when exposed but the inspector then wanted to reinspect one the ceiling was in causing help the ceiling to be removed.

I think there is certainly a name that keeps being mentioned !

ThisIsWeird

Paulpen said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Paul.
Did these folk explain the various reasons to avoid the Council's BCO? Is there a particularly notorious fellow there for instance?

Mainly due to them being slightly more flexible, realistic and having the customer in mind.

It seems like the council ones are by the book (which there is nothing wrong) which can cause issues with olde buildings etc. One example I was given is that a the inspector was not happy with a drain being milimeterers in the wrong place so it had to be changed at a cost of thousands. Another was that an in ceiling ventilation pipe was inspected when exposed but the inspector then wanted to reinspect one the ceiling was in causing help the ceiling to be removed.

I think there is certainly a name that keeps being mentioned !

Ah, the council pedant :-)
My bro built a house decades ago, and the BCO came out for one of their inspections. My bro still recalls the chill he felt when the guy went upstairs, raised his hand up and touched the ceiling with his finger and announced, "It's too low - it needs to be raised."
Ok, my bro was a bit sloppy with such detail, but it turned out to be well under a half-inch. He went to plead with the BC dept - it would be a ceiling-off and more job - and a BC there smiled and said, "Tell you what, MrX (eyes rolling) is away on his hols next week - we'll send someone else out...", and they passed it.