ToughButterCup

I would not like to face you in a Law Court. PS, but then again, it might be fun .....

Did that ditch once have flowing water? I ask because last century, the ditch into which we (and now ten or more house discharge ) once had one or two houses discharging into it. And the volume of water in it then was quite substantial. Now, there's just a trickle - almost all from discharges of the houses which surround the leet (as they call 'em oop ere). Your ditch / gulley might once have carried enough water to be regarded as 'flowing' perhaps? See where this is going? @joe90's point (above) is a good one. Nobody - but nobody is likely to check. Is that gulley regulalrly maintained?

Ughhhhh. Too right. The biggest change in my attitude to our build revolves round one number : Predicted Cost to Completion. Over time that number has become more accurate, (8 years) because we can now 'see' the end. Sometimes when considering the next few cost headings, we look at that number and think - Oh FFS - and at other times -Yep, thats fine - . But mostly there's a sucking of teeth. When I started, it was going to be - No Compromise. Now its - Lets get the job done. Latest tooth sucker: why on earth do we have to have MVHR ? - Our windows and one door is open for 6 months of the year. Cheap MVHR therefore or all bells and whistles?

Thank you very much. I'd forgotten that - and merely skim read your posts. 😔

I would be stunned - delighted indeed - if anyone in ENGLAND did anything other than submit a set of guessed (but acceptable) numbers to the LPA. And a proper percolation test is expensive. Planners are just to busy to check. Our planner once mutterered under her breath that if someone wants to build a house - but at the end of the process the builder gets his own back - well that was fine by her. She had a way with words - thats why we employed her.

2.4 and 5 GHz mixing eh? That'll be 2.4 * 5 = 12GHz?

From my personal experirence, foul drainage is the part of the building process that attracts more than its fair share of sloppy practice and sloppy practitioners. You sound a bit 'down' So here, have a laugh on me.

The installation of a cesspit will require Planning Permission, and therefore Building Control regulation. @crooksey is being diplomatic : any cesspit is highly unlikely to get PP.

The problem description given is .... ermmm, problematic. Is the question ... Can I replace a septic tank with a treatment system , and use the same discharge route that was used by the septic tank? Yes. While @crooksey is correct, from direct personal experience, I can tell you that the likelihood of such a fine being levied is close to zero. Why? The details are long and boring, so here's the short version. Neighbour digs opencess pit next to public highway, and has been discharging into it for 7 years. Complaints to Planning, Building Control, The EA and Environmental Health all result in various versions of 'Don't rock the boat son - we haven't got the money to pursue him; it doesn't smell that bad; no planning permission? - no problem. And the raw sewage still overflows into the track next to our property every time it rains. The Planning Inspectorate, the County Solicitor, the County Planners, the Enforcement team, mob-handed, (but not the EA) all visited the site on Tuesday. 7 years after the cesspit was dug. The open cesspit is visible on Google Earth. Every single 'qualified installer' (@crooksey above) who came on to our site and talked utter sh!te - except one. And he was (is) brilliant. PM for details

I'm not so sure it's ignored: I think some staff members are not as well informed or pay as much attention to detail as they could. And so, when there's a challenge by an articulate 'customer' , more senior HMRC staff get involved - often those staff members then react in Defense Mode. In my application , all the correct words were written in the correct order: there for all to see. The person reading the application simply didn't read the words. The person at HMRC who took my Helpline phonecall saw straight away what the issue was - and understood the implication: I had a valid claim. But it was not her job to approve the claim; that was her colleague's job. So she defended the indefensible. It reminded me of my professional role as a lecturer - marking a sloppily written undergrad essay. "I tried really hard - why have I failed this essay?" "Because your answer bears no relation to the essay title given." The overal effect is exactly as @jack says - a mess.

Morning. I'm very far from expert. Hard bitten maybe, but not expert. @markc's point above is the key issue. A splash strip can be made to look really nice, is open to the air and extremely cheap. A tile strip risks trapping water behind it, and if it does so, guaranteeing damp problems in years to come. And I bet you one month's salary that the bits of mortar that fell off the external wall (during construction) bridge the gap between the outer and inner walls . Your builder appears to me to be less than careful about attention to detail. All the published official guidance says that a splash strip must be provided. I'm using my mobile phone to write this. If I was on my PC, I would link to that advice for you and I may be able to do that later on today when I fixed my PC. Have a good look at the range of aggregates that are available for use in a splash strip. I bet you can find some that you would like the look of. They are all much cheaper than tiles.

There are a few issues here, some of which you identify, and one possible issue that @markc noticed I think (collectively) we're saying .Don't worry about the drain: it will work even if its perfectly level You'd have liked a 5mm gap (not 30mm) between the paving and the drain: sorting that issue out would be costly The paving stones appear to butt up against the house: that could lead to damp inside the house because of rain splashing on the paving. Its widely regarded as good practice to have a 'splash strip between house and paving. The last issue above is the most important by far. Looking (squinting) at your photo, it seems the floor level (Final Floor Level , FFL) isn't that much higher than the patio. I may be wrong. Ask the builder where the Damp Proof Membrane is (DPM) It should be 100 mm or so above the pebble splash strip. My instinct would be to ignore the 30mm gap between flags and drain (because it will cost a good deal to rectify) get a 120mm wide splash strip inserted between patio and house. Cost of that : 1 days labour, and some bags of 10mm shingle - say £200. Better that than the the alternative.

Go through the contents of this line by line , document by document Focus on the access issue (because the Planners seem to have a concern there) I'd be interested in why there was (were) an Appeal(s) about access Whenever there is so much documentation about one plot , my (remaining) fingertips begin to tingle. After you have mastered the brief (as it were) then talk to the agent: make sure the agent knows that you are thoroughly conversant with all the detail. Forewarned - forearmed.

God, this place is full of ...... hard-bitten, no-nonsense, determined, sensible self-builders. Who knew?

Ooooooooh. You bad boy. (Standard practice in West Lancashire. Normal.)

Wot ee sez.....

You Gary and the OH are my idea of a Whirling Dervish. Some way to go to beat @Stones (6 self builds I think), but could I take this opportunity to ask what tablets you are taking at the moment?

Join the An-Ecologist-Shredded-My-Nerves club. I got so annoyed by the incompetence shown by mine, I paid half the bill because that was what I thought was fair. The key thing about ecology is that ecology-focused Conditions relevant to your site must be evidence based You say that the ecologist has found no evidence of bats. There's no evidence of tigers either, (I bet). And you're not being asked to erect a tiger-proof fence (I hope) In that respect your response above .... . is understandable (because you are keeping your eye on the main prize - Planning Permission). May I suggest you make sure you know when he is on site - make him give you a schedule shadow his every step when he is there make him give you the evidence and in the absence of evidence , relax and have a plan ready for when there is evidence Just double checking: have a look at planning permissions given round your area - say 5k or so. Is there any evidence of bat activity in those Planning Applications ? And if there is, what mitigation was conditioned? If there is no other locally recorded bat activity ...... and you have had a really good look in your roof space. It is very easy to be a really sloppy ecologist. First hand evidence available on request.

Could you tell us, is the positioning of a bat pole a precondition of your planning permission? Because if it isn't then I would be tempted to ignore what this ecologist says.

Welcome. Anyone could spend a month reading this forum from end to end, and still have more to learn. @Onoff's bathroom is a good place to start. Reading that thread will take a week.

20 foot scaff pole will do....

No end of suppliers online. If you have a minute and some scrap lying round the site, here's a video. But if - like me - you are anxious to do the right thing: don't. Because nobody checks your 'bat box'. You need to find a spare telegraph pole and pop it in the ground with what appears to be a bat box dangling off it. The problem will be finding an old cheap knackered telegraph pole, I think. Cynical? Me? Yes.

.... a little less thick I suspect

Yes. I have some 22mm OSB that has been outside for 4+(?) years supporting a pile of concrete blocks (set up on 2 by 4 bearers) : the surface is delaminating a bit, thats all. PS no additional water-repellent covering - just bare OSB.

I don't know - but i do know the HMRC has a helpline. 03003227073 . Its a simple enough question - hey, you might even get an answer out of them