Building Regulations
Kev100
Posts: 13 Forumite
We had an internal wall knocked down and 2 steel beams inserted for our new kitchen/dining room. We used a kitchen company who used their own building firm so it was all project managed. We had architect plans drawn up before the work started and I asked about Building Regulations which the builder said he would obtain on our behalf.
Six months after completion we have cracks all over the plaster in the kitchen and I have discovered that the builder didn't obtain building regulations.
Any advice on next steps?
Six months after completion we have cracks all over the plaster in the kitchen and I have discovered that the builder didn't obtain building regulations.
Any advice on next steps?
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Comments
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What have the kitchen company said? (I presume you only contracted with them, and didn't have any separate contract with - or payments to - the building company)?
Was it actually an internal wall, or did it have a support pillar in the middle? The steel beams (lintels) would have been needed to support the upper floor.
Where is the plaster cracking? Above or below the lintels?0 -
Go back to the kitchen company and ask them to come out and look at what's happened. You may be unnecessarily alarmed because cracks in the plaster might be a result of natural settlement or changes to the ground condition. We had a very dry summer in the south east, we're on a clay soil and I've got some hairline cracks in plaster around the house, the patio flags are all over the place, a small gap opened up around the floor tiles in my conservatory and the doors needed slight adjustment. Now we've had rain in recent months it's all returned to normal. You've perhaps had similar ground conditions compounded by what sound like some serious work done.
Building regs are down to you I'm afraid. You can delegate responsibility to a third party to sort them for you but not accountability - it's your property so you alone are responsible for ensuring the work adheres to the regulations. If you paid the kitchen company to obtain them then you are entitled to have that sorted but otherwise it's down to you.0 -
Thanks for replies. I've contacted the kitchen company but they keep passing it onto the builder who won't get in contact with us about it. The hairline cracks, patio flags sound very similar to what we have got . I've rung the house insurance who are sending a structural engineer to have a look to hopefully rule out subsidence! The cracks have all appeared since the work was completed last August. Looks like we will have to try and get retrospective building consent then (there is a long list of things we were promised by the builder which he never bothered to do!). Is the builder not liable at all for not complying with building regulations? We've also never had an electrical safety certificate from them.
The internal wall that was knocked down did have a support beam. The cracks in the kitchen are below the lintel then there are cracks on the walls and top of ceiling in the bedroom and bathroom above the kitchen.0 -
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You've done the right thing to get it checked properly. Hopefully it will just be settlement or movement in the ground over recent months.Thanks for replies. I've contacted the kitchen company but they keep passing it onto the builder who won't get in contact with us about it. The hairline cracks, patio flags sound very similar to what we have got . I've rung the house insurance who are sending a structural engineer to have a look to hopefully rule out subsidence! The cracks have all appeared since the work was completed last August. Looks like we will have to try and get retrospective building consent then (there is a long list of things we were promised by the builder which he never bothered to do!). Is the builder not liable at all for not complying with building regulations? We've also never had an electrical safety certificate from them.
The internal wall that was knocked down did have a support beam. The cracks in the kitchen are below the lintel then there are cracks on the walls and top of ceiling in the bedroom and bathroom above the kitchen.
You have a contract with the kitchen company (I presume you paid them and only them?) so they can't walk away from their responsibility for sub-contracted work. It doesn't matter what the builder promised, it's what in your contract with the kitchen company that counts. If your agreement with the kitchen company specifically included those things in it and you paid for them, then you must go back to them for the remedy.
I'm afraid I will repeat my advice on the building regulations, building consent and electrical certificate. Whilst you may expect the trades to have done this, you are ultimately accountable for them as the homeowner. A word of caution: Your insurer may take a view on the fact that consent wasn't obtained and regs weren't adhered to. It may invalidate a claim if you've allowed a builder to start making structural alterations without having the necessary things in place.0 -
A claim for what? Buildings policies wouldn't cover you for shoddy workmanship anyway.Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »A word of caution: Your insurer may take a view on the fact that consent wasn't obtained and regs weren't adhered to. It may invalidate a claim if you've allowed a builder to start making structural alterations without having the necessary things in place.0 -
The structural engineer who came to measure up and produced the drawings was one the building firm used. Obviously with hindsight I would should have sorted the building regs but stupidly we trusted and took the builders word.
The kitchen company and builders were paid separately it was just all project managed by the kitchen place.0 -
Builder has agreed to come out to look at the cracks and hopefully sort.0
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Hopefully you've got lots of photos and they'll accept them for building regs, however they may want to see what's been done.0
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Any news OP ?0
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