kandgmitchell

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It's out of date as building inspectors have to be registered and it's an offence to call yourself one and not be registered.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.

Our daughter is moving into a Edwardian terraced "do'er upper" shortly. It has a kitchen but it's a poorly assembled bunch of cheap units with previously a gas cooker. We want to tidy it up and install an electric hob and oven I acquired 2nd hand locally, hardly used. The electrical inspection revealed that the mains lead water pipe isn't earthed and I can see there are only a few ring main sockets, no oven outlet or the like. The mains incomer is adjacent the front door so I've got to run cables from there right through the house to the back kitchen to feed the new oven and hob plus an earth cable for the lead pipe (it'll be mdpe eventually but I'm older now and these things take time). Now I can run these myself which allows us to get some carpets down on the first floor leaving a sparks to do the work either end. I have enough 4mm earth cable and a cable with twin 6mm + 2.5 conductors, left over from my own house build for this. However are these sufficient? The oven draws a max 2.3kW and the hob 4.8kW - 5.8kW according to the instructions. Thanks

Not having an EV mine's switched off at the board just to make sure a "visitor" doesn't charge whilst we are on holiday!

Ah, they have that covered too. If your planning permission switches on additional requirements in Part M - access for the disabled M4(3) requires space for a lift to be installed and/or dedicated sockets for a potential stair lift. Originally the building regulations set a basic standard for health and safety of persons within and around the building. Most people could see the sense in requiring properly built buildings that were structurally safe, weathertight with decent drainage. Then conserving energy was added, then electrical safety, and then it all went to pot when internet connectivity, electric car charging etc were added. By then the original purpose of the regulations had been subsumed into using them to carry out policy decisions of the government of the day.

Have a look at Requirement G3 - they've even got you needing to provide hot water despite always washing in cold! G3. (1) There must be a suitable installation for the provision of heated wholesome water or heated softened wholesome water to: (a) any washbasin or bidet provided in or adjacent to a room containing a sanitary convenience; (b) any washbasin, bidet, fixed bath and shower in a bathroom; and (c) any sink provided in any area where food is prepared. Whatever next!

Our BCO insisted we had the actual charger installed. She explained that she had been pulled up by her seniors for agreeing the installation wiring only on a previous project. Her private BC company wants to see the charger on the wall before a completion certificate is issued. Like the OP we have no EV. The bin gulley is a nonsense, never heard of that before. Wash the bins on the grass.

The above post is very much my opinion also. You are obliged to give notice of completion to the LA and furnish them with all the relevant documents such as SAP, air test, EPC, water efficiency calculator, electrical certificate etc plus a "competency" declaration but that is the extent of your obligation. Assuming that has been done then the LA should issue a completion certificate within eight weeks. There is no actual obligation on them to inspect, as long as they have considered the risk of not inspecting. Of course it's all very well the government writing these things down but if an LA has no staff then who is to challenge them, the ombudsman will take forever. But, unless you need a completion certificate for a very specific purpose then sit back and let them get around to it. Interestingly HMRC say work is complete once the local planning authority issues a certificate of completion (my bold). Well if one uses private building control there is no LA involvement and I can't see the planners getting involved. Furthermore in contrast, the claim guidelines state you merely have to "provide evidence of completion". Indeed I found that HMRC were more interested in what was contained within my planning application rather than any thoughts about building control. If you have been added to the valuation list then that's pretty good evidence along with perhaps an explanation of the situation. I suspect that if HMRC felt that wasn't sufficient, they would stay your claim until you satisfied them. The team that deals with reclaims seems to have more time to consider things and seem a little more human than the income tax bods.

Could you just confirm when the work started and this is a new dwelling not a conversion.

It wasn't huge. I had our design priced by an online QS service so had something to compare with. It was the build time of 8 weeks which was by far the most attractive feature. There's no doubt that I could have shaved off more cost by going down the traditional route but having built and renovated before, it was so nice to have someone else to worry why that plumber/electrician/carpenter/(insert tradesman here) wasn't on site as promised. Well in this case they were and the handover date was the date confirmed on the work schedule provided.

It's set at 2150mm it felt low at first but it's a utility room and now we don't notice it.

That is what Danwood do. They provide live real time drawings for the customer to locate electrical outlets for instance (whilst showing the impact on the original budget for all those extras you want). Sanitaryware gets planned, there's a lot of involvement at the planning stage until it gets frozen and sent to the factory. Then when panels arrive on site they have conduits and outlet boxes already fitted, waste pipes and hot and cold supplies installed etc. So when the kit arrives on site all the ductwork routes are known and there is no need for the odd additional holes here and there. Years of refining the product means many faults have been designed out, there is no mastic around windows as that fails so a hidden seal joins the window frame to the structural frame. Internal window sills are not timber or MDF but a quartz like material. These are the advantages of factory build over a one off job in the mud. Granted it means a lot of wild architectural ideas can't be realised but I would suggest there is still a lot more flexibility in layout/design than you'll get from a major housebuilder.

We have that same unit as pictured but in the services room. The ducts leave via the utility room which has a false ceiling with all ductwork hidden from view. We have found the MVHR system to be very good and we saw that as a positive in the Danwood offering. The one issue is the location of the outlets in the floors, could do with them nearer the walls but as they're placed under windows it's not that bad.

Well you could try arguing paragraph 3) of Regulation 4 which states: (3) Building work shall be carried out so that, after it has been completed— (a)any building which is extended or to which a material alteration is made; or (b)any building in, or in connection with, which a controlled service or fitting is provided, extended or materially altered; or (c)any controlled service or fitting, complies with the applicable requirements of Schedule 1 or, where it did not comply with any such requirement, is no more unsatisfactory in relation to that requirement than before the work was carried out. (my bold). So basically you would be saying that this new field is no worse than the original and with little alternative as to location, you do actually comply with the regulations. Hopefully BC will see this as a convenient way of closing the matter and moving on.....

Almost certainly. Remember to call them before concreting any foundations or covering any drains. The BC company will probably issue you a list of what and when they want to see things on site.

That's a pretty good start. The BC company will come back to you with any queries they have. Bit like an MOT - you hope you've got a well prepared car and then they find something you hadn't thought of! (Like the non-working hazard light switch - just saying..) Wait to see if they need any more info.

First of all a Class Q conversion refers to planning legislation so put that to one side for now. The Building Regulations are simpler - if a building now contains a dwelling where previously it did not, then a material change of use has occurred. In that case a suite of technical requirements are switched on (Regulation 6 lists them). Part L is included. However, SAP assessments apply to new dwellings that are erected. A conversion concerns a building that is already there and is not being erected as new. Instead this is reflected in applying specific limits on thermal elements such as walls and windows. If you look at the Approved Document Volume 1 for Part L on page 69 it gives guidance on what is expected. You can use a SAP calculation should you want more flexibility for a conversion, but that choice is down to the designer and is not a specific requirement.

So Ealing couldn't have used a section 36 notice (t remove or alter) as that is time limited as per paragraph (4) here: (4)A notice under subsection (1) or (2) above (called a “section 36 notice ”) shall not be given after the expiration of 12 months from the date of the completion of the work in question. So they must have gone for an injunction under section (6) not a "contravention notice" which proves we on build hub can "never say never" but someone complained and probably put them on the spot for them to spend money on that. If I remember correctly Ealing Borough were suffering a load of illegally converted garages etc which had people living in them to the point where it made the national news. Maybe they decided enough was enough and were on a mission....