ToughButterCup

Our son and daughter in law, both coppers say : keep it simple. A good insurance policy and built-in security (not add ons) is very cost effective. Any house, no matter how secure will always be beaten by determined thieves. Its easy and cheap to keep casual crooks at bay.

First, welcome. Next, lay in a good supply of cider. I think you'll need it. Network, network, network. Good luck Ian

Pushing on an open door with me Paul. I used to use the same name as you for that sector: ' the drainage sector ' . I now call it the Dregs Sector . The number of stories I hear about it.... The sooner that company is out of business, the better. I am not sure that you can use the Small Claims Court until you can show loss. I have no feel for the costs - is it worth the effort, or is it another one of those - '' If ya can't take a joke, don't self-build " moments?

A slightly disappointing response @SteamyTea. Imagine for a moment you are a proud Welshman.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury and Commentariat, I bring before you today a sorry tale of coughing, furious backpeddaling and arisole covering on the part of Her Maj's Revenue and Blood Suckers. Dunno what I'm on about? I refer you Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury to the preceeding matters. Faced with the incontrovertible evidence of the Date of The Document which informs us of Listing in the VOA List being five months after the Effective (oh that inglorious - and misapplied - word) List the respondent for and on behalf of HMRC replied "Oh well, with an Iffy application like this, we have to make sure that you (I) are not the cause of the 5 month delay." "Ya wot, sweetheart? " I answered (she had a smashing voice) "Well we need to make sure that you hadn't asked the VOA for a delay in communicating the entry to the Valuation List, and then there's the problem of us all coming back to work slowly, I work from Wales, so there are very few of us in the Office. So we just had to make sure." Now, I don't know about you, but most self builders know when shoo shoo is being shovelled don't we? '.... we need to know that you are not the cause of the delay ..." followed by the real give away '.... then there's the problem of us all coming back to work slowly, I work from Wales, so there are very few of us in the Office. ...' Thats an HMRC employee telling me: But my dog ate my homework. As often when I'm cross, off to walk the dogs along the river. Might see a Dipper.

Those who use ladders the most safely have already fallen off at least once. For me, both times were when I was BOTH tired and in a rush.

Geberit because I'm half Kraut. And I have limited imagination. We bought two for exactly the same reason. Worry about warranty ? For Geberit? Really? I mean really? Left over 4 by 2 and some sheet OSB is what I used Meine Guete, solche Klienichkeiten sind schwierig ? Darf wohl nich' Wahr sein. Mann kann es auch 13,5 schreiben. @Temp Sie haeten Deutsch an der Schule lernen sollen! ? One thing to think about, @James94, knee height. As is the way on a self build, you make progress while you can. So there was a googdly gap between fitting the first one and the next. SWMBO asked for the second one to be set 10mm lower than the first. It's not that she's a tiddler, I'm just under 2m tall. When I start to sit down on 'hers', I feel for just half a second or so, like I'm about to fall over. 10mm makes a huge difference in comfort in seat height. Her knees are about 10mm lower than mine.

Hmmm, @klane, the threads on this subject are a good evening's read by the fireside. The situation is complex, and rules are inconsistently applied and regularly misapplied . But the general rule is as the post above outlines.

While I respect and value many of @Moonshine's posts, I disagree with the one above. If this statement is correct , then there should be no real problem. It might be an idea , @matstand to talk to others who have done what you propose, or something close to what you propose, and guage their experience of talking to Network Rail. Who knows, you might even find that you don't need a solicitor. I know the NWR can be a really serious nightmare: friends of ours have had endless trouble. But to risk a diligent solicitor in years to come finding that no agreement between you and NWR ..... (sucks teeth)

Having a bad day son?

Add just enough heat to the inside of the structure to prevent condensation.

First .... excess PV in Bonnie Schottenland? Honest?? Next howdya manage to divert the output to a convector heater then?

I love(d) them. Until - it is said - an Oriental ate one and the rest is recent history.

Don't place the box where we did in the house before last, install it next to a roof-space office. They chatter like - well - like bats. On a phone call, people could hear them chattering. Charming for 2 minutes. Then rictus grin.

There loads of help .... here's a couple of resources.... https://youtu.be/0PYzEiLsNqQ

I do hope that you can find such an insurance for your sake. But I fear that the process of of finding that insurance will be fraught with difficulty. At the very least I suspect you will need someone who has their PII insurance of their own to sign off on the work you have done, so that he or she in turn will be able to reassure the insurance company that they are accepting a reasonable risk. I really hope I'm wrong.

We have accepted occupancy. We no longer have site insurance, just normal house insurance. Occupancy isn't an issue for applications based on a Competion Certificate: not sure what you mean Dave about dots being joined ...

This is the pre-cursor to this thread . I was cross after I wrote the final post on that thread - said I would go and swim the dogs. A useful safety valve. Well, the pause made a difference. SWMBO asked a simple question that brought me up short. Whats to stop us withdrawing our VAT refund application based on an Entry in the Valuation List, and wait until we have a proper Completion Certificate? The motivation behind the question is - after a good deal of my own research - I have finally understood one of the main things @jack and @newhome are really saying in what they write. In short , where the refund application is the least bit complex, they point to the arbitrariness of HMRC decisions. Anyone got a good reason why we should NOT withdraw?

I am really no expert. But I read a lot. The answers are likely to centre on airtightness (well, the opposite - leakage) The U value of the build material Thermal bridges Do you have chimney? If so, it works 24 / 7 / 366 drawing air out of your house The orientation of your house in relation to the passage of the sun Proper knowledgeable folk will be along in a minute. Welcome, by the way. Ian

Thats the difficult decision we had to make. Never mind how the self-builder gets to cashlessness, many self builders get there in the fervent hope of achieving the opposite : a bit to spare. But, when after deciding to accept that we're going to have to have a lower VAT reclaim than if we'd submitted a full-on Completion Certificate , to find that HMRC are Hell-bent on trying to apply a hidden trigger for the application process (Occupancy) is more than a little annoying. I have spent several hours reading today: HMRC internal Guidance, BH, @jack, @newhome 's posts, Finance and Tax Tribunal decisions (Category Builders 37, subcategory Do It Yourself, 37.1), and the like , I see it is common for inconsistency to reign. In fact the only thing that is consistent is inconsistency. @jack blows a fuse about it all over this sub-board. I'm currently reading up on what consitutes occupancy, or rather which aspects of a self build automatically discount the classification ' fit for occupancy' . Hell, thats a mine field too. Off to go and swim the dogs in the river. 'kin' 'ell am I cross.

Yes. There are two levels of Valuation Officers. The one in the VOA , and the other at local Council level. I talked to both. The VOA said they automatically send their letter of notification to both the the local council and the self builder. I never got a letter from the VOA . But the local council copied it to me. Both letters of notification are generated and sent by the VOA at the same time. Both letters are dated 21st April 2021. That's the date which counts as far as HMRC is concerned ( see earlier post) I talked to the local council Valuation Officer. She has more detailed evidence - like when she sent her assessment of occupation to the VOA. She backs up my story. Both of us were informed of HMRCs decision on or immediately after 26th April. To me , applying by 7th July is within the guidance given by HMRC. I'm sorry to have to tell you that it already is and has been for some time. @newhome, bless her , has set me off on a reading whirlwind on the matter. I'm going to try and summarise as much relevant information as I can and post it here. It's the least I can do to repay all the help I have had from BH members. Citizens ! Come the revolution , we will overcome. Give us Liberty to Occupy before Completion or Give us death ! (Apologies to Patrick Henry)

The clue is in the name @SteamyTea .... come on wake up lad. Bad as @pocster

Thank you so much. @newhome. A bunch of reading coming up methinks. Dave - you are also a star, son. Right - @pocster, - wake up. Read @ProDave's post above

You ain't going to like this...... shovel, spade, hole. Or digga ? French drain round the edge of your garage and anything else you can do to lower the water table. Wait for rain. Think of England, Harry and Saint George.

Yes the 45 degree rule always obtains No, they shouldn't because the 45 degree rule will have been applied No, the relevance of disability is very limited in planning terms : external ramps , handrails Solicitors are a waste of money: their opinion must be based on the logic which applies to everyone else. Here's some help in drafting planning objections.