building regs as an afterthought??

[snowdude2910]

I renovated my house in 2010 and in the process had a wall removed and replaced with an rsj. The builder who did it did it to building regs afaik ie. double pink plasterboarding but we didn't get a certificate and I don't think a building regs man has ever seen it, now that I am in the final stages of selling the house my buyer has asked me for a certificate of building regs for the wall being removed which i don't have. Has anybody ever had this problem before ?How do i go about getting these? am i going to need to get it re-plastered? is it going to cost me a fortune?

[jules_s]

snowdude2910 said:

I renovated my house in 2010 and in the process had a wall removed and replaced with an rsj. The builder who did it did it to building regs afaik ie. double pink plasterboarding but we didn't get a certificate and I don't think a building regs man has ever seen it, now that I am in the final stages of selling the house my buyer has asked me for a certificate of building regs for the wall being removed which i don't have. Has anybody ever had this problem before ?How do i go about getting these? am i going to need to get it re-plastered? is it going to cost me a fortune?

Three things (or more) to consider.

1/. Is the beam adequate for the load

2/. Are the bearings adequate.

3/. Is the fire protection adequate

If you took a wall down and replaced it with an RSJ you should have got building control consent as it is a material change to the property....that 'should' have covered 1-3 above.

Getting retrospective consent wont be cheap im afraid.

[mildmannered]

As a suggestion. State that no paperwork is available, however you are willing to allow a surveyor to make reasonable inspection holes to ensure that the work has been carried out to an acceptable standard and to regs. Like double boarding as you've mentioned, padstones etc.

If the holes are made using a holesaw (you mentioned plasterboard), it is quick and easy to make good after with a minimum of fuss.

[jules_s]

mildmannered said:

As a suggestion. State that no paperwork is available, however you are willing to allow a surveyor to make reasonable inspection holes to ensure that the work has been carried out to an acceptable standard and to regs. Like double boarding as you've mentioned, padstones etc.

If the holes are made using a holesaw (you mentioned plasterboard), it is quick and easy to make good after with a minimum of fuss.

Some sort of fall back insurance would be better (I sold a place with rooflights with no regs that way)

I'm not sure that covers major structural alterations though?

[anonymous-user]

jules_s said:

Some sort of fall back insurance would be better (I sold a place with rooflights with no regs that way)

I'm not sure that covers major structural alterations though?

I'm sure most houses have some non-documented enhancements over the years. Most homeowners are baffled by the minefield of Rules, so dont bother. If you dont have the document, it will be a painful and longwinded process to get one now. The insurance route is pretty standard.
The buyer may be playing games, have they used this to ask for money off yet?, be prepared to tell them to take it or leave it!

[mart77]

when taking a wall down and putting a steel up you need a building inspector in to do a calculation for the size of steel you use.i just hope the steel you put in is adequate for the job or it will have to be redone with the correct sized one.as a rule of thumb i'm afraid any alterations like this to a property should be done via consolting the council.theres no point trying to do house alterations on the cheap.it will always catch up with you when trying to sell the property.

it is the same sort of thing if you have a rewire.everything needs a certificate nowadays to say it was all done properly and to regs.

[Johnboy Mac]

Jimboka said:

I'm sure most houses have some non-documented enhancements over the years. Most homeowners are baffled by the minefield of Rules, so dont bother.


The buyer may be playing games, have they used this to ask for money off yet?, be prepared to tell them to take it or leave it!

^^^ This.

If the buyer's are not happy with the removed wall simply because it doesn't have a cert, they really are not interested in buying your house or are looking for a discount of the purchase price. Of course that's presuming there are no signs structural damage showing.

I was in a similar situation before, selling a house with an extension, no PP as it was not required and the buyers wanted 8k reduction in the agreed price due to a possible fault with a new door opening to access the garden. I refused, they bought.

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Friday 4th November 07:31

[ND_007]

You can get Building control to come round retropectively, not ideal but I have done it in the past. If you have any photos of the steel in position, all the better.

[groomi]

Johnboy Mac said:

Jimboka said:

I'm sure most houses have some non-documented enhancements over the years. Most homeowners are baffled by the minefield of Rules, so dont bother.


The buyer may be playing games, have they used this to ask for money off yet?, be prepared to tell them to take it or leave it!

^^^ This.

If the buyer's are not happy with the removed wall simply because it doesn't have a cert, they really are not interested in buying your house or are looking for a discount of the purchase price. Of course that's presuming there are no signs structural damage showing.

I was in a similar situation before, selling a house with an extension, no PP as it was not required and the buyers wanted 8k reduction in the agreed price due to a possible fault with a new door opening to access the garden. I refused, they bought.

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Friday 4th November 07:31

It may be nothing as underhand as that. When we bought our current house the surveyor (acting for the mortgage company) pointed out a wall that had been knocked through. The bank understandably wanted either a certificate or an insurance policy.

IIRC the policy was very cheap and is a very common thing to do. No question was made of reducing the price.

[Johnboy Mac]

groomi said:

It may be nothing as underhand as that. When we bought our current house the surveyor (acting for the mortgage company) pointed out a wall that had been knocked through. The bank understandably wanted either a certificate or an insurance policy.

IIRC the policy was very cheap and is a very common thing to do. No question was made of reducing the price.

Very true too.

[mk1fan]

Getting retrospective approval could be cheaper than an indemnity policy. A fee to the local Building Control, a small amount of opening up to show the beam, it's bearing and the footings.

Bearing in mind that this is a structural alteration - rather than, for example a replacement window - then there are further reaching risks other than just a certificate from Building Control. It could void a mortgage or invalidate buildings insurance.

I would be very suprised if any Chartered Surveyor or Structural Engineer would underwrite the changes in leu of a Building Regs certificate.

[snowdude2910]

thanks for all of the advice I think I'm going to ring the solicitors and just say i haven't got a certificate and see if they just accept it at that. If not I'll call the council but if it's too much hassle and expense I'll just tell them I haven't got a certificate take it or leave it as since splitting with my partner I'm not in a position to buy another so don't really need to sell the house anymore and to an extent would rather just spend the 4k I am going to loose in early repayment charges on sorting the house out to rent out instead.

[jas xjr]

I have done it twice but it was not structural. I replaced all the windows, did it all to building regs spec. I had no faith in fensa as a company offered to sell me a certificate.
Anyway did it all to a decent spec and when the matter arose at time or sale it cost me a few pounds to have a letter of indemnity drawn up.

[Beardy10]

Johnboy Mac said:

Jimboka said:

I'm sure most houses have some non-documented enhancements over the years. Most homeowners are baffled by the minefield of Rules, so dont bother.


The buyer may be playing games, have they used this to ask for money off yet?, be prepared to tell them to take it or leave it!

^^^ This.

If the buyer's are not happy with the removed wall simply because it doesn't have a cert, they really are not interested in buying your house or are looking for a discount of the purchase price. Of course that's presuming there are no signs structural damage showing.

I was in a similar situation before, selling a house with an extension, no PP as it was not required and the buyers wanted 8k reduction in the agreed price due to a possible fault with a new door opening to access the garden. I refused, they bought.

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Friday 4th November 07:31

It's standard practice for a solicitor to ask for the certificate....any Estate Agent should tell a seller they need to have the certs available.

Who specced the RSJ that was used ? Was it a structural engineer or a builder ? if it was the former they should be able to give the buyer some comfort.

[Busa mav]

I recently got a retrospective approval for a friend who had carried out a garage conversion and new opening without the approvals,

I knew the council involved and they turned it around in a week from submission to site visit to final certificate .

In my opinion it is better to get the correct documents that blight " the property with an indemnity , whicg are becoming all too common place nowadays.

One would almost think the solicitors get a kick back, sorry commision, from each policy they place