Building Regs/Planning
Discussion
A rather naive question about the above - we've finished our complete refurb. now. We obtained planning permission, and have followed it.
What happens now re this and Building Regs - is there an inspection process by planning dept and Buildings Officer, or what? And if yes, who should arrange, me or builder?
Thanks
What happens now re this and Building Regs - is there an inspection process by planning dept and Buildings Officer, or what? And if yes, who should arrange, me or builder?
Thanks
Bonefish Blues said:
Oh, didn't realise - you mean the Buildings Guy? Big stuff, BTW, lots of structural over 18 mths.
You should have had the building inspector round several times during the refurb, especially if there were structural changes. Any structural changes must be inspected before they are covered up/made good to make sure they are done to conform with the regs. If you have had the inspector round to carry out his checks during the refurb then all you need to do now is notify them that it is complete and ask them to come for a final inspection and get it signed off.You really should have got BR approval first, or used a building notice before the work started.
The difference is that with a building notice the Inspector will approve the work as you go, but can make you change it (this needs a decent builder who knows what the Inspector wants to see/will approve)
With BR approval its already approved, so they are just checking that its done that way.
If you do work without either, you can get a regularisation certificate which will aprove the work post completion, however they may want bits opened up so they can see how its been done (typically to look at lintels etc)
A good builder should have been aware of this, however its still your responsibilty, not the builders.
In short you are not f
ked, but depending on how much of a tt the Inspector wants to be, it could be difficult. I've generaly found them to be much easier to deal with than expected.
There is a chance your builder submitted a building notice, and the inspector has already been round. We used a building notice when we extended our house, and was getting concerned that the builder was steaming ahead and I'd seen no inspections.
My builder just used to say don't worry, I've got it all in hand. I rang the Inspector just to be sure, and he assured, me that inspections were happening at the right time. They are generally a 10 minute drop by to see beam sizes, foundation depts etc, so its easy to miss if your builder is dealing with it.
The difference is that with a building notice the Inspector will approve the work as you go, but can make you change it (this needs a decent builder who knows what the Inspector wants to see/will approve)
With BR approval its already approved, so they are just checking that its done that way.
If you do work without either, you can get a regularisation certificate which will aprove the work post completion, however they may want bits opened up so they can see how its been done (typically to look at lintels etc)
A good builder should have been aware of this, however its still your responsibilty, not the builders.
In short you are not f
ked, but depending on how much of a tt the Inspector wants to be, it could be difficult. I've generaly found them to be much easier to deal with than expected.There is a chance your builder submitted a building notice, and the inspector has already been round. We used a building notice when we extended our house, and was getting concerned that the builder was steaming ahead and I'd seen no inspections.
My builder just used to say don't worry, I've got it all in hand. I rang the Inspector just to be sure, and he assured, me that inspections were happening at the right time. They are generally a 10 minute drop by to see beam sizes, foundation depts etc, so its easy to miss if your builder is dealing with it.
Edited by 98elise on Saturday 22 January 09:01
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