kandgmitchell

LABC warranty manual suggests no more than 15mm for walls over 5m long. See this: https://www.labcwarranty.co.uk/hubfs/Technical Manual v10 Files and Images/Manual Sections/Section 1 Tolerances.pdf#:~:text=A 10mm deviation is suggested,over 5m long. It's frustrating about leaving lintels out etc. Our groundworker had a tendency to say "that's close enough". I always countered with "what the frame erectors want they must have, so stick to their requirements please otherwise I'll get the blame". For instance we had set places for rainwater drains so the associated downpipes could be located over studs in the frame for fixing. I had to have the first gulley moved because it had to be 1645mm from the corner and he put it at 1800mm odd. "They'll just move the downpipe" was the reply, but why not just put it where the drawing said in the first place!!! I found blaming others for "being awkward" came in useful and maintained a working relationship until we got there......

When you say building warrant I presume you mean building regulation consent as per the English/Wales system rather than Scotland. So your project can't use the simplified method of showing compliance then? A thermal dynamic modelling report can be got from many of the firms that supply SAP calculations. If you google Thermal Dynamic Modelling - Part O there are several companies offering a free quote. Perhaps see what is being charged and come back here to ask if anyone has used that particular firm.

I'm not conversant with the Scottish Regs but I would have thought your installation of 15mm pipes falls under the exemption stated in item 1 i.e a pipe or a cable with a bore, or diameter of not more than 40mm There appears to be no restriction on the number and of such pipes unlike the larger 40mm and above pipes

How deep are those joists - just thinking about you cutting a 50mm waste with a fall across them

No apologies needed. As self builders sometimes the pressure of managing everything just gets too much and when things go wrong it's usually our closest that bear the brunt. I recall a renovation where we had sunk everything we had into it and needed it finished desperately in order to sell it before we ran out of money just for day to day living. Our 10 year old had got used to coming to site with us most weekends as we scrabbled to get done. I gave her the job of painting a short length of cast iron downpipe with some black gloss. She did ok with that but didn't put the lid back on the tin. I picked up the dust sheet without noticing and poured black gloss all over the indian sandstone patio that had been freshly laid only a couple of weeks before. I do admit to ranting excessively, not directly at her but just how unfair life, god, the world and everything was. It was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. Later that day, having dropped her back home and returned to site, her elder brother rang to say he couldn't find her in the house. A frantic search all over the village ensued to no avail. As we widened the search with the help of neighbours and decided to alert the police, a call came in from a nice lady in Cambridge who had found her wandering the streets. It seems she had packed a bag (including an OS map for reference!), boarded a train (unmanned village station) and traveled a few stops into Cambridge with the intention of going to her aunt's house. She had got upset and thought all the problems were her fault. Boy did that bring home the important things in life and certainly gave me a new perspective. We never let ourselves get into that situation again and despite many a frustration over the years you just have to press on through it - worse things happen at sea!

I think any of us that have needed to employ "tradesmen" feel your pain. From the plumber that apparently had to deal with an "emergency" on his way to our site virtually everyday so he only turned up just before lunchtime, to the heating engineer who's "early next week" actually meant Thursday afternoon with no time to finish before their next "important job" on Monday (and ours obviously wasn't). It happens project after project, tilers, electricians, plasterers..... Sometimes though you get a diamond among the rough, the guy who turns up on the day as promised, is a pleasure to work with and stays until an excellent job is done. When that happens it makes you realise that there are decent tradesmen out there so don't give up!

Oh and to add - for every non-compliant detail that was missed by a BCO there was an incompetent builder or designer that actually did the work!

I'm not sure there was widespread dishonesty rather than widespread variation in expertise. The registration process is meant to try and drive up standards and in reaction to Grenfell (and be honest some of this may be political with a small p) something needed to be seen to be done.

Couldn't you do this with the "temporary" supply i.e get it into a kiosk where the meter and isolator would live and then take your own cable in a duct to the CU. The digging would be down to you then. Our supply to the static caravan went into a kiosk with the meter etc then the new build had it's supply taken to it. The kiosk now sits among the raised vegetable beds behind the greenhouse out of sight. Paid UKPN the once (and that was enough).

It's out of date as building inspectors have to be registered and it's an offence to call yourself one and not be registered. Given the potential for criminal action being taken against inspector as per: Criminal offences Criminal offences include: giving advice or acting outside the scope of your registration deliberately doing anything that implies work is within scope of your registration, when it is not acting as or implying that you are an RBI, without being registered obstructing, deceiving or impersonating an authorised BSR officer giving false or misleading information to BSR failing to provide information as requested by an authorised BSR officer If your registration is suspended it is a criminal offence to: carry out restricted activities give advice relating to restricted activities deliberately do anything to imply your registration is not suspended If there is evidence you have committed a criminal offence, you may be prosecuted. I'd say the chances of getting lots of advice from a BI are getting slimmer. Not sure many other construction professionals are under such constraints.

A decent BCO whether public or private ought to be able to point out any objections they have to a detail which should then allow the designer to adjust that detail to bring into compliance. I'd find it surprising that they would simply say "no". The main issue of many LA's is simply lack of staff, when we built 2 years ago I used the LA for the sewer connection back into the site. The guy was helpful but pointed out there was just him full time and two part time contract staff to cover a huge mainly rural area. I used private BC for the house....

I'm not up to speed with Scottish law but here you are unlikely to get recourse from any BC provider LA or private. Murphy vs Brentwood 1991 effectively blocked actions against LA building control and the later Zagora vs Zurich Building Control Services Ltd 2019 along with Herons Court vs NHBC Building Control Services Ltd in 2018 made any successful action against private inspectors almost impossible. You have to remember the inspectors job is to check the building complies with the law. It's not to advise you how to build. Of course you get helpful inspectors and others that are not, in the same way police officers differ in their approaches to the public. I'm not sure calling what is now a pretty highly regulated profession that involves criminal sanctions against those not properly registered, as well as having a publicly available list of persons entitled to be "building inspectors", a "gimmic". Please correct me if I'm wrong but the only other construction professionals that have to be registered by law are architects.

Thanks for that advice. I was just wanting to run cables through the floor void (my time is free for the fiddly bits) and leave either end for an electrician to deal with. From what you and Nick suggest, since I have the cable I'll run a pair of twin 6mm from the CU location to the kitchen along with a 10mm earth for the water pipe. Since the CU is being changed each can have their own location on it. I can then terminate those main cables in positions above the worktop for isolators to be installed for onward connection to an accessible outlet in the cabinets below. This leaves the existing ( and checked) ring main in the kitchen as is.

Yes I'd allowed for a CU upgrade in the budget and of course part of being prepared is asking the questions before doing the job......

Well that's a result and goes to show how inconsistent regulation can be. We supplied a statement by the plumber that he had tested the drains upon completing the works to building control and that was accepted. Could you try the same with your warranty provider. Plugging the top end of an installed svp when all the scaffolding has gone is a real pain.