House Purchase- Fire Break missing between Garage and utility room on extension

Bobbityboo

Section62 said:

Bobbityboo said:

Section62 said:

Bobbityboo said:

Have you asked the seller why it wasn’t done?  Can you speak to the contractor that did the actual work and see if they will do it?  

The last thing I'd want to do is to use the same contractor who did such a bad job in the first place.

Second question is connected to the first…. If the seller didn’t want it done properly or the contractor took issue with the seller for some reason.  So the second part wasn’t stand alone.  You didn’t make it clear it was the contractors fault the work wasn’t done properly.  Not surprised other contractors don’t want to take on this kind of work.  

Also if the contractor didn’t finish the work properly why hasn’t the seller already sorted this?  They just have known it was wrong.  Hence I wondered if your seller is the issue.  Seller must have paid for the work to be done properly. 

...I'm not the OP.

The usual in this kind of situation is a client who doesn't know the regulations and a contractor happy to take shortcuts to save some money them and the client.  Occasionally a client knows what is required but tells the contractor not to bother doing whatever it is.

The way I see it the contractor has much of the blame either way - knowingly doing construction work which potentially puts people's lives at risk, or not knowing the rules on reducing the spread of smoke and fire amounts to much the same, not a contractor I'd have any faith in whatsoever.

As I said upthread, the difficulty the OP will have getting quotes before they move in is likely to be the uncertainty whether the contractor being asked to quote will ever have the job to do.  Either the current owner needs to get quotes, or the OP waits until they complete before knowing what it will cost them.

I was working on the basis the op said that the surveyor commented that the work in the rest of the house appearing to be at a good standard.  It’s odd that the garage hasn’t been finished correctly. Makes me wonder why it wasn’t finished correctly.  I know that trades people don’t like coming in and ‘fixing’ another trades persons work.   So would still ask the seller why the work wasn’t finished to the correct standard if the rest of the house was… 

eddddy

Dannygee22 said:

I don't want to pull out, we love the house, it is just making us very nervous.
...
The mortgage valuer did not raise it as an issue, and we have just got the mortgage offer today.

Depending on the precise facts, you might want to take a view on whether you mention the building regs issue to your solicitor

• If you mention to your solicitor about a lack of building regs for the extension, they will be duty bound to tell your mortgage lender

• Your mortgage lender is likely to insist on building regs sign-off or indemnity insurance before completion

• If the extension is recent, you might struggle to get indemnity insurance

• And the seller might refuse to complete the work and/or get building regs sign-off before completion

So if you want to have a back-up option of buying the house as it is, and doing the work after completion, maybe consider not saying anything to your solicitor about the building regs.

Section62

Bobbityboo said:

Section62 said:

Bobbityboo said:

Section62 said:

Bobbityboo said:

Have you asked the seller why it wasn’t done?  Can you speak to the contractor that did the actual work and see if they will do it?  

The last thing I'd want to do is to use the same contractor who did such a bad job in the first place.

Second question is connected to the first…. If the seller didn’t want it done properly or the contractor took issue with the seller for some reason.  So the second part wasn’t stand alone.  You didn’t make it clear it was the contractors fault the work wasn’t done properly.  Not surprised other contractors don’t want to take on this kind of work.  

Also if the contractor didn’t finish the work properly why hasn’t the seller already sorted this?  They just have known it was wrong.  Hence I wondered if your seller is the issue.  Seller must have paid for the work to be done properly. 

...I'm not the OP.

The usual in this kind of situation is a client who doesn't know the regulations and a contractor happy to take shortcuts to save some money them and the client.  Occasionally a client knows what is required but tells the contractor not to bother doing whatever it is.

The way I see it the contractor has much of the blame either way - knowingly doing construction work which potentially puts people's lives at risk, or not knowing the rules on reducing the spread of smoke and fire amounts to much the same, not a contractor I'd have any faith in whatsoever.

As I said upthread, the difficulty the OP will have getting quotes before they move in is likely to be the uncertainty whether the contractor being asked to quote will ever have the job to do.  Either the current owner needs to get quotes, or the OP waits until they complete before knowing what it will cost them.

I was working on the basis the op said that the surveyor commented that the work in the rest of the house appearing to be at a good standard.  It’s odd that the garage hasn’t been finished correctly. Makes me wonder why it wasn’t finished correctly.  I know that trades people don’t like coming in and ‘fixing’ another trades persons work.   So would still ask the seller why the work wasn’t finished to the correct standard if the rest of the house was… 

The surveyor usually will only be commenting on what they can see, so "appearing to be at a good standard" doesn't mean much more than 'I couldn't see anything else obviously wrong'.  Most clients want a good finish so the contractor (in most cases) will concentrate their efforts in the finishes, the bits that get skimped on are more likely those that get buried or covered over.

I'm not suggesting this applies in the OP's case, but for example if a builder decides to save a bit of money by not using lintels, wall ties and cavity insulation then it is perfectly possible a surveyor looking at the property subsequently will give it a "work ... appearing to be at a good standard" assessment, whilst in reality the property would be a lemon.

It is the building control process which helps guard against a contractor doing shonky work - the reluctant ones will put in the stuff which will be hidden when the job is complete because they have to in order to get the job signed off.  If building control wasn't involved and the contractor did something as obviously wrong as not providing the correct fire/smoke resistance between the garage and the habitable rooms then the surveyor's assessment has to be viewed with considerable caution because neither the surveyor nor the OP can know what else might be wrong.

sheramber

Bobbityboo said:

Section62 said:

Bobbityboo said:

Section62 said:

Bobbityboo said:

Have you asked the seller why it wasn’t done?  Can you speak to the contractor that did the actual work and see if they will do it?  

The last thing I'd want to do is to use the same contractor who did such a bad job in the first place.

Second question is connected to the first…. If the seller didn’t want it done properly or the contractor took issue with the seller for some reason.  So the second part wasn’t stand alone.  You didn’t make it clear it was the contractors fault the work wasn’t done properly.  Not surprised other contractors don’t want to take on this kind of work.  

Also if the contractor didn’t finish the work properly why hasn’t the seller already sorted this?  They just have known it was wrong.  Hence I wondered if your seller is the issue.  Seller must have paid for the work to be done properly. 

...I'm not the OP.

The usual in this kind of situation is a client who doesn't know the regulations and a contractor happy to take shortcuts to save some money them and the client.  Occasionally a client knows what is required but tells the contractor not to bother doing whatever it is.

The way I see it the contractor has much of the blame either way - knowingly doing construction work which potentially puts people's lives at risk, or not knowing the rules on reducing the spread of smoke and fire amounts to much the same, not a contractor I'd have any faith in whatsoever.

As I said upthread, the difficulty the OP will have getting quotes before they move in is likely to be the uncertainty whether the contractor being asked to quote will ever have the job to do.  Either the current owner needs to get quotes, or the OP waits until they complete before knowing what it will cost them.

I was working on the basis the op said that the surveyor commented that the work in the rest of the house appearing to be at a good standard.  It’s odd that the garage hasn’t been finished correctly. Makes me wonder why it wasn’t finished correctly.  I know that trades people don’t like coming in and ‘fixing’ another trades persons work.   So would still ask the seller why the work wasn’t finished to the correct standard if the rest of the house was… 

The extension could have been added by contractor employed by the seller, not the original builder. 

Dannygee22

Thanks all. I've gone to back to them with a proposal to get the work rectified prior to us taking occupancy. As you say, it is a fairly simple job, but we will need to review it and get the sign off needed. I think it's a more than reasonable request, but we will see what they come back with.