ToughButterCup

Thanks for that explanation @Radian

Provided you are a Domestic Client (thats really important) your project is NOT notifiable. Here's the definitive guidance. (HSE). For further reassurance you can also read this thread on this board (about CDM 2015) @nod's point about keeping the site secure is the key issue for you, I would think.

Here's a link to a good few spreadsheets for you to peruse. We're at the end of our build: the most important thing for us was to make the time to update the spreadsheet regularly: it almost doesn't matter which sheet you start with - you can adapt it to your needs as you go. But tiredness got in the way..... I wish I'd thought to create a spreadsheet that could be easily updated on my phone as well as on my PC and tablet. I should have made the spreadsheet simpler.

Welcome. Welcome also to The School Of Oh Sheet Too Late Now. 5 years in to the as yet unfinished build and I'm unpicking yet another school-boy error of my own making: one made 3 years ago : it has been quietly waiting to sneer at me for not having [ .... doesn't matter what it is ..... ] It will take two full days to rectify and cost me about £200 or so. I should read my signature line more often. 'Cos I'm not laughing now. Pub in an hour or two. Ask me then.

+ 1000%. In fact it's probably as important as the product itself. I'd ask your supplier what their re-supply situation is: for us with (spits hard) Durisol it was hard work.

Well, just round the corner from you (Lancashire) , I'm hearing that customers are pulling the plug on building projects if they have arranged finance recently on a variable rate. A good chippy near us is talking about the end of next year before he can come: and no drop off in sight. Another local builder was glad to be able to come and work for us replacing the chimney on our cottage as soon as the weather improves next Spring. Currently the picture is variable, but the trend is worsening. All of this is word-of-mouth: to be taken with a pinch of salt, therefore.

You might want to consider using acrylic render mesh behind the second coat of render - but as others have said, be guided by @nod. It smooooves out da bumps.

Remind them that they did our house (Salamander Cottage) which is 12 meters away from our other cottage, and that they put a vibration meter in; and that reports to their HQ in real time. Vibration was no problem at all. And this (below) is as bad as it got .... 3 meters from the piling rig while working (I used the well-known bowl, water and food colour meter)

The big thing about Durisol UK (for an intending user ) would be the lead time for supply and - worse- re-supply.

@JohnMo, are Durisol-UK still trading? I thought they were (are?) in receivership.

You've got me hooked. Where? Do you have a link to examples?

Yes, it is crazy. But to know the difference between crazy and sensible the question needs to be asked. All credit to you, therefore, for asking it. If the idea were sensible, everyone would be doing it. If this board demonstrates one thing it's the creativity and drive that self-builders have. And at the planning stage all sorts of ideas bubble up. Some need tempering with experience. If you can, get permission to view a pour on an ICF house. The forces exerted are huge. As I know to my cost: cost as in I'd be able to change my car now if ..... ahhhh, never mind just look at my posts about ICF

One starts with us early next year ...

Yes it may well be. It was for us. I say may be ... will a couple of barrow loads of earth make up the level to less than 2.5m? If so, do it.

A local tradesman who -four years ago - couldn't find the time for us, turns up on our doorstep a couple of weeks ago looking for work. Two large contracts he was just about to start have been pulled. Interest rates.

Just what I thought @PeterW. My issue is - how does anyone assess what is reasonable? Wyre publish their list of BC charges here. The Inspection charge for a new house is £390 A neighbouring LA (Fylde) charges £431 for a newbuild. Lancaster - just up the road from us charges £510 for the same thing. Those are the only comparators I have. The argument put forward by the Wyre BCO (and other authorities) is that Reversion Charges are individually determined. Fine. Why then would they need to charge just under double what they charge for a newbuild when any Reversion - by definition - cannot incur the same amount of work. Moral: If you need to reclaim your VAT AND move in before Completion - never let the LA Valuation Officer anywhere near your house. It starts a process over which you have absolutely no control Lets see what happens when I refuse to pay the bill. So, sit back and enjoy the fireworks.

Thats the key question..... If you need your VAT refunded and you occupy the house before completion and the BCO stands on ceremony and inspects within six weeks (as per the legislation) - the so-called final inspection the LA have to take over and the process - and fees - start all over again. And all because we took down the HERAS round our house , allowing the LA valuation officer onto the site. Lessons? There can be 2 Final Inspections. Inspectors are standing on ceremony because of Grenfell LABC inspectors can - it appears - charge what they want. My question is - is it reasonable to challenge the LABCs intended fees - in this case £750 - about 50% more than I was charged for the whole house by the original inspectors?

I'll have a sniff at least - might even report back if I don't stick my nose to a brick ......

And presumably, it has a certain bouquet does it, and when you take a sip , then swill it round your mouth there's a certain fizz is there? Right.... Must try that later today

Even if (say) a quarter of the bag is one lump of solid cement, but the rest is powder..... ? I've got one or two of those and I'm about to skip them

Since our Final Inspection under the BCO of our choice, the LA becomes responsible for Building Control under a process called Reversion Can the LA Building Control Office charge what it likes for their BC under Reversion service? And if they can, can the amount be disputed? Our LA, Wyre Borough, publishes a list of fees for all sorts of services, including Building Control. But it doesn't publish a fee for Reversion. The fee may well be individually determined The LA wants to charge us £750 : that may or may not be reasonable. Doing a bit of Due Diligence, I see that our neighbouring Local Authority also suggests that Reversion work may be individually determined. On what basis are Reversion fees set? Our original fee (at the start of the build) was £600. Now the LA wants to charge more than that for cannot be as much work as the fee for a brand new build. The one thing that I really have learned during this build is that some people and organisations (whether they realise it or not) think that self-builders are too stupid to know any better. Have any BH members had their BC fees determined under Reversion? Did you get the feeling that the office concerned just thinks of a number and doubles it?

Shame: T+C Vibro were - for us - excellent. I would not inflict our contractor on anyone. Proximity - 13 meters.

We'd both had too much giggle water to drink....

@MikeSharp01 I've always thought that Mike talks a lot of sense. And it would seem I now have proof positive. Courtesy of Geberit. We have Toulouse, one upstairs, the other down : 2 Geberit Tuma Classics : Botticelli-spraying dervishes they are, bit of a shock first time, but you soon get used to it. Brilliant for lower back injuries. Wish we'd bought the bum-drying version now. But you live and learn. They need to to be descaled every so often. And of course, I forgot. The mechanism refused to work. Being Swiss, it dug its heels in and simply refused. Rang Tech assistance. Very nice man. Very nice Tecchie indeed. Would I please download the App. What? An app for an arse-spraying dervish? Yep Did so. First job(by) : update the firmware (on the toilet itself 😶) Click here. Job done. Next job : initiate descaling. Job done You might like to have a look through the rest of the app says the Tecchie Lad. And what do I find on the app? You can use your phone as a the remote control for the spraying arm. Thats right, you finally have an excuse to take your phone into the loo with you. Just to prove it, here's a screenshot I took when I was ---- Yes, you can have cold water or warm water...... an idea starts to germinate, you make the spray really strong or soft ... tick tick tick 👹 It works by Bluetooth .... the signal is really strong.... With me yet? My mate comes round and blags a couple of beers. You're ahead of me now aren't ya? Yes. I did. But I'd made a mistake in my logic. @MikeSharp01 is exactly right. The IoT was - in this case - an opportunity for a Ne'er-do-well. He was standing up for a tinkle. Not sitting down. Duuhhhhhhhh. The sprayer came out and sprayed when it was told to. And the sprayer jet made him look like he'd peed his trousers. Ne'er-do-well is too kind a term. Forty Hail Marys and sit on the Naughty Step for a while.

In ze Vaterland, zer is a sing called a Jalousiereinigungsyetm (Blinds Cleaning System) . Zis cleans ze indeewidual blades of ze shutter or ze blind. Available on Amazon here . There are many more available elsewhere. Vorsprung durch Reinigung ! (Progress by buying cleaning things until the thing is cleaner than your neighbour's, thus making them jealous : rinse , repeat) On a more prosaic note, I found that a combination of a car-wheel cleaning brush and a hoover made an unpleasant job easier . Cheap. Effective. Works well outside and in. Grandchildren can be bribed too.