Ed_MK
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Everything posted by Ed_MK
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on that note ...is there anyone local(ish) to me that could recommend an alternative? I am in Mk/Bucks area
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thanks Temp, i guess i "presumed" that if i used the council BC dept it would in some way be part of planning and it would make things simpler, on reflection I should have looked at it a little more @Ian I suppose i have not REALLY committed to LABC. i DID fill in an application on the website, but that was in error as i was advised thats where i needed to go to clear conditions for my planning application, basically do it online via a BC reg application, so i completed an online form Which i now know to be wrong .. Well, wrong for now, as i cant complete it as I am still waiting for the Frame Builder to give me their bit for building regs I fear I have now entered the "infernal loop"
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I never realised that ...I guess I thought it was like, you know an "agent" or something and by going direct I would save time and money. Well i haven't paid LABC/Council yet, although they are asking for money ...as i filled out an online application without realising what it was as i thought it was the correct way to discharge planning conditions ....mind you i was TOLD to do that by someone on the phone ...so its not ALL my fault. If i choose to go with someone else, would i still need to fill in the same application, or is it done separately (via the company)
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i would have thought so.. ..but then i have never built anything before. Its just the conditions use the term "any building work" and has a LOOOOONG list of what that means, which if you read it means basically anything "including site clearance" but as you say thats from planning the problem i have is the site is currently NOT open, and has no access to the road. So before i do anything i need to clear away a few bushes and make entry over a grass verge "20ft long" to the road. then there is all this talk of EXISTING and FINISHED floor levels. So as the site is basically flat but with a few humpies and bumpies it varies about 70cm at lowest and highest ...so i was hoping to get the machine in and level it out prior to anything else, also finish the hardcore base for the entrance and later traffic, But apparently altering site levels can affect drainage and trees and God knows what else ..so in essence thats BC. Its all very confusing for me (maybe I am naive) ..I dont disagree with ANY of the conditions at all, honestly. I just want to best utilise the time (especially Spring and Summer) to get the job done ...I left my job in Manchester, and the plan was to focus on this project and then once almost finished get a job again ... ..I woefully underestimated the amount of waiting and thumb-twiddling involved, though, and the different information i would get when asking the same question. If it wasn't for the BH Forum, i think I would be back on the happy pills!
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who were you with Dreamer?
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Thanks Ian, but isn't there a DOWNSIDE of not using the councils own ? I am thinking of price communications delays not to forget the old "blame game" I am no expert with buildings, but i find the more reds in the way of anything in life ...makes it harder to pot the black as Hurricane Higgins once said (perhaps, in a lucid moment he would have)
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Well today I had ANOTHER call from the Council, this time the Building Control. Basically they wanted £800 for the application and periodic checks (which i expected) But then it got very twisty-turny I told them I had put in for some discharges already with planning so that I can start work.. .......apparently thats a different issue, different department etc ..this is for the Building Regs. I told them I had everything in hand, except the bundle from the Timber frame architect ...which COULD take another month. .......At which point they informed me UNTIL, these were filed i could do NO WORK AT ALL. I said, yes apart from the work i asked for under the 4 conditions i have paid £116 for yesterday. .......And again they said if it involved DIGGING at all then it is a building control issue and you would need to have paid and submitted FULL plans I said so what have i paid for £116 .......Apparently, thats a different department and so they cannot comment So I cant actually do ANYTHING for another Month .......No, longer, Building regs can take up to 2 months to be fully approved, and so until initial admin and first inspection has been done Nothing can be back filled in So it could take another 8-9 weeks until i can get a frame erected, regardless of anything else .......Exactly Apparently I have filled in a FULL application and not a "building notice" and this requires the full fee and the period to process ( i may have done) Apparently I also filled in asking for no 2 month extension or partial approval ( i may have done) I said I wasn't an expert and just completed what i was advised by planning on the phone .......Well that was a different department Sir I thought I was certainly smart enough to be able to do this myself ....but now I am having doubts. Should it be THIS DIFFICULT, or should i say CONFUSING for the layman? I should stick to configuring e-commerce transaction servers and databases ....at least they kind of make sense
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hmmm..possible because many people dont' have the luxury or inclination to go deeper if they don't have to ! Well the verdict is is ! 2 companies came today, poked a camera down various manholes, including neighbours while they were out (ssshh) and both came up with the same answers 1. Ask your neighbours to let you connect on their land 2. connect to the main sewer at 2.6m and don't expect any change from £10k+ 3. you MAY have a spur, (which will probably be in a buried manhole on your drive (thats news) but we cant see it, could be capped, benched over ... so our advice would be to a) Wallop the ground with a 10ib Sledge and listen for sound variations and then start digging b) Hope the lid is metal (as next doors is) and use a Metal Detector to find it c) just hope its there regardless and dig a 3ft trench across the driveway at the same place as the neighbours is PS ..Over the last 40 years the driveway appears to have been resurfaced at least twice, possible 4 times As i suspected I would be ...I am down £150 and still in the dark(ish)
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Its Quite possible, and SOME of the neighbours (who have been here from the get go) seem to recall that houses had "spurs" but they are not sure and the ones that have been here longest are now very long retired in most cases, and see no need to come off their cesspits. The 2 questions I have, taking into account what you say is 1. If there WERE spurs originally (put in in the 80's) then how come the houses built between say 85-95 did not connect to them, at least not until recently...and only THEN because they were being sold at the time ...presumable as next buyers would not like the idea of the "pits" 2. If there is a private drain running down the lane, and bearing in mind that to the north of my image until it was build up int he last say 7-10 years there was literally a handful of cottages just up the road, presumably ALL still on pits. The church does not have any toilets at all ...and thats literally at the top of the road...So if there WAS one put in later say ...in the 80's why would they appear to have fitted it in a contraflow way ?! Even older maps seem to show the sewer in that position and following the line of the "brook" towards the main road (off to the left) ...which makes sense (sigh) hopefully today the mystery will be cracked by a man, a rod, and a camera ....
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that is EXACTLY what I was looking for ...Thanks a lot Herb
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Thanks again. I have been trying to suss out what Zurich actually call their self-build Insurance "site insurance" As i am not taking out any 10 year warranty thingy ...I just want to make sure the site and workers etc are covered .....do they have a "name" of this policy ...I am sure it must differ from standard public liability ?
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Well as i said i have a new "expert" coming tomorrow... I think what has them all flummoxed is that if you LOOK at my neighbours manhole it is set up to travel AWAY from where we all think it should (red arrow shows direction of waste in manhole) I am correct in thinking that the Anglian water "arrows" shows direction of the drain and not source? surely that would be nuts LOL !?!? So why oh why would a person lay a drain (or lateral) that points AGAINST the flow ?..it is DEFFO going up the footpath and it appears ....(which would be insane) is heading roughly to 6901.. although none of them have "lifted" that yet as they say it is not possible that they would connect to that one.. ...which TBH i seem to agree with. I mean these manholes are NOT new, and could be there since the road was extended in the 80's at the latest early 90's and the neighbours manhole has for SURE gone in in the last 7 years
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Just my Luck Ferdy ! ...story of my life ,,, As Mike Harding once said "..so unlucky that if he fell into a barrel of t*ts ...he would come up sucking his thumb"
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hmmm..I think I will argue "retrospectively" as I am in a bit of a rush. I have been give a "groundworker start date" of the 5th March ! and to be honest I won't be able to let them start UNTIL i get these signed off... To be honest I think I am already "urinating into the breeze" dreaming it can happen in time. But the alternative is to get the new "work window" in about 8 weeks ..so the site stands still and by this time I will have ALL the documents in place to put in for building regs ! anyway But what a WASTE of 2 months .....(sigh)
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- planning permission
- planning conditions
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Well I only dropped it off this morning....and i got the FASTEST EVER REPLY by email about 30 mins ago... ...shame its not what i wanted to hear ? Would it be wise to start an argument with the people responsible for giving me building regulation approval? The wife says No...(regardless of how the guidance reads) So a new cheque for £116 is on its way in ! I keep forgetting ...we are the LITTLE PEOPLE *still not sure how they worked out the £116 ..but hey ho
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Bloody Hell. ...its starting to sound a bit Voodoo here, stumbling around the block paving all poking each other with birch twigs I am presuming though if this is a spur there ...then it definitely wont have anything running in it ...So even if i hoped the "powers" were with us on the day ...I fear we would be on a loser .... I have ANOTHER drainage guy coming tomorrow ...Lets see what he can tell us ...They are all keen to get the job, only too happy to pop by with 2 hooks and a torch . but once the "spur" is mentioned it normally goes quiet and before you know it ...the BMW is back up the road and they havent even finished their brew I have learned one thing today .... I have to be careful next time i order some drain rods online !
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that "triangle" bit of land Dave is where I am building my house the little square on it were old sheds ...I have cleared them off now and its ready for action! ...only fate, finance and the BCO stand in my way LOL
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thank J, very helpful (as usual) by the way did you actually BUILD that scale model ?
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thanks guys, I will send the 4 x copies of the Discharge form, with 4 x DVD-R to include all the drawings and stuff with 4 x Housebricks , 4 x Slates in a big box next week Oh ....and a cheque for £34 see what happens. If they sit on it for 6 months because of underpayment I know who to blame LOL
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Ok, thanks Guys Let me tell you the 2 houses marked in green above are all on Cesspits (as is our inlaws) that road northwards leads to a little village church and on our side of the road very few houses some of them VERY old and from what i can gather the only few that are on mains have had to dig up the road, across the road to the newer development I am guessing which is out of sight on the left of the map. the neighbour is a nice guy, but comes across as a very private person..even when we wanted to LOOK into his manhole it seemed to take 30 seconds of consideration, so I am surmising that it will be a 99% chance of a "No" to dig across his block paved drive to a manhole that he may think COULD become overloaded with other peoples ...how shall i say "tom tit" Regarding money, i think he and his wife are doctors, or anaesthetist or something and I can't see a brown envelope and bottle of Pinot Grigio cutting it . ..they probably earn more in a year than i do in ten! ...So I guess its back to basics ... We could find space for a treatmant plant ..but to be honest with the Polystorm hole in the back and the extensive pipework to channel it means it will probably end up close to the 5/7k anyway ....and to be honest we have experience off cesspits (i know a plant is different) but my wife will equate it with a cesspit , and that mean emptying 4 times a year, the end of the garden smelling like an egyptian gutter and the joy of standing in wellies with a long rod 3 or 4 times a year shouting down the garden ...."is it going down yet" ....nope, she definitely wont go for it ...She is one of the type that when they produce a "richard the third" .....wants it to move as far and as fast as possible away from whence it came
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Yes, I could ...but i was under the impression the CCTV guys already mentioned some kind if "trace" ...for some reason (although i dont know what it is) ...if there IS a lateral running up that grass verge in a NW direction ...they would not guarantee find it ...or the spurs off it. Is there something difficult about where it is? are laterals always hard to find? ..I don't know ..I wish I did. but the purpose of me paying for the survey was that there may be a CHANCE there is already a spur on our parents land which could save £1000's in digging and not to mention all the added fees, and traffic management for a quiet lane that only one car every 15 mins goes past (if you are lucky) Its just when i clarified, whether after the survey they would be able to tell me definitively that I have a spur, they all said no "probably not" ...which leaves me back to square one
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Well Richi, I do have 11 conditions ....quite straightfoward actually, most regard the building later on, which is no surprise as it is conservation area, and i don't argue with any of them; but 4 of them must be "satisfied" to get to the foundation stage. I have all the materials in hand to satisfy (3), i have the drawing to satisfy (7), the groundworkers are supplying all the necessary heras fencing, and i have the signs etc and we have had an arboricultural report for (10) and I have the drawing here for (11) and here they are as on my planning letter: ( 3) No development shall take place above slab level until samples and/or details of the external materials to be used in the construction of the development have been submitted and approved in writing by the local planning authority. The development shall thereafter be carried out in full accordance with the approved details prior to the first occupation of the development. ( 7) No development shall take place until details of the proposed finished floor levels of all buildings and the finished ground levels of the site, in relation to existing site levels of surrounding property, has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall thereafter be carried out in accordance with the approved levels. (10) All existing trees, woodlands and hedgerows to be retained as shown on the approved plans shall be fully protected in accordance with the latest British Standards (currently BS 5837:2012 'Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction Recommendations') by the time construction begins. All protective measures must be in place prior to the commencement of any building operations (including any structural alterations, construction, rebuilding, demolition and site clearance, removal of any trees or hedgerows, engineering operations, groundworks, vehicle movements or any other operations normally undertaken by a person carrying on a business as a builder). The Root Protection Area (RPA) within the protective fencing must be kept free of all construction, construction plant, machinery, personnel, digging and scraping, service runs, water-logging, changes in level, building materials and all other operations. All protective measures shall be maintained in place and in good order until all work is complete and all equipment, machinery and surplus materials have been removed from the site. (11) Prior to commencement of ground works, a drainage strategy (including surface water) shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local planning Authority. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.
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thats what i asked and he came back with its £34 x 4 so pay £136 on the portal website i thought FUDGE! I wish i could do them all at once ...but the rest of them relate to stuff that wont get done until the frame and driveway get done ...so i cant do them yet ..and just want to get the "boys" in with the machines to get the place flat etc also its the only way i can get the chemical toilet onto site ....as of next week it will be sat on the road as a public convenience LOL
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Well..its a bit like columbo folks ..but this time we don't know the answer in advance ...but there is plenty of "just one more things" We got in touch with Anglian waste water to connect our aging in-laws up to the main sewer .. (house on map below with red dot) ..and they sent us this very plan. Connect to 5901 they said ...which is a fair way away ....they dont do the work themselves they have a list of contractors ...and so i got one out for a quote you don't want to know ...honestly! that manhole is 3 metres deep and has a ladder down it ...Apparently we would need to come in at invert level and so the digging and the fitting of a manhole on my in-laws land is like 6 figures Bang! So while he was there he noticed their neighbours (green dot) have a manhole in their drive, so he had a peep and it IS a sewage mahole !!! ....but rather than going to 5901 ...it appears to be heading to 6901 Now the current owner knows nothing of how the house got on mains sewage, but there is a legend, rumour, call it what you will that all these houses have a "spur" in the drive way ...which in his case would make sense as the road doesnt look dug up. So i got advice to get a CCTV camera shoved down it ...but after several phone calls I was told that the rod cameras will only go one way ? and that if the neighbour is on some type of lateral? ..with spurs? then they probably wouldnt get to see it ..so it would be a waste of £200 apparently there are "crawler" camera and ones with prehensile sections ...but these are "mad money" and only large contractors or the water board themselves have access to this technology ....(i bet even Area 51 dont have it) So there you have it ...do you guys think my only alternative is to get on the old "banjo and barrow" or do i sell my car to we buyanycar, the wife to Harvey weinstein and pay potentially 15k
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Well the foundations should be going in soon, the ground-workers are all lined up for clearing the plot .. but Stop! We found out a few days ago that 4 (of my 11 conditions) need to be signed off before we do ANY work, expressly making an entrance to the site from the road ...(sigh) anyway i have all the stuff they need so i fired it over, but then got told that i need to fill in this DISCHARGE form ...which looks like a mini planning app But what i didn't think was that each time i ask for a condition to be "ticked off" i pay some dosh! So i read the attached advice from the site, and was under the impression (see what you guys think) that if i submit ONE form, with the 4 conditions on it ...as there is provision to list several conditions on it: then it should be one fee although i was told on the phone it is one fee PER condition
