flanagaj

Sorry to keep dragging this topic up, but if you were potentially purchasing a plot that will require a sewage treatment plant and drainage field, how do you go about ensuring that said tank and drainage field can physically be installed so that they meet the current general binding rules. The rules are very detailed, and it only take a single mistake, and you are then in a whole world of pain. If I understand things correctly, is it the Architect who submits the proposed location to Building Control to ensure it meets the required rules? I am just concerned that I have not seen any documentation from the vendors we are buying the land from, regarding whether this has been signed off and is all ok. British Geological Survey and some trial holes dub on site have shown that it's a chalk bed, but that is only half of the battle. The environment agency has a whole list of things that need to be met, before you get the green light. I could be over analysing things, but my sceptical mind starts getting paranoid that we will buy it and then find we cannot build the house.

Drainage for the plot we are purchasing is not an issue as it comes with a large garden to the right hand side of the proposed dwelling, and there is no other dwellings that side which will cause us a problem regarding it's position. PS - There is no mains drainage nearby.

Noted. I'm just ***** off. This is the second property we have attempted to purchase, and on both occasions, it's has been the off mains drainage that has been caused the problem.

So what if the plot was purchased on the basis that there is no liability should we dig up their drainage field or foul water soakaway pit. Would that not work in our favour, as the subsequent replacement field that they would have to have installed to replace the one that did actually reside on our land would have to be replaced with one that meets current building regulations. Eg, 15m from any dwelling. As that would not be physically possible given the location of the new boundary and new dwelling, would Building Control simply state that a drainage field was not viable, and they could potentially use crates (not sure if space permits) or the last option is that they would have to simply install a cesspit? My understanding is that if you have to replace an old septic tank or a brick filled foul water soakaway with a new one as yours has failed, then you have to abide by the new General Binding Rules and cannot simply replace with what was there before?

You are correct. They have spent a fortune using expensive planning consultants, but somehow failed to ask themselves the question "but what about our septic tank / drainage field / soakaway that is right up to the boundary"

Thanks for the replies. So I've concluded that this purchase is dead in the water. The only option that is viable, is for them to ask the land owner behind them if they can site a new drainage field for their property under the horse paddock so it's adequate distance away. I have a feeling that they will instead just try and find an unsuspecting buyer who doesn't ask as many questions as we have. In the grand scheme of things, I personally would be happy to spend 15k for said drainage field if I was set to gain 350k from selling part of my garden.

In a nutshell would people be concerned about having a drainage field / sewage soakaway within 4-5 metres of your house? I am just trying to work out whether we are being too cautious and worrying about nothing. It's the current regulations of drainage fields having to be a minimum of 15 metres from a dwelling that has got us worried.

Thanks for your thoughts. That is a good idea and I will ask the Solicitor to put that in writing. Our drainage field is not a problem, as we have lots of land to the east of the house which is nowhere near any other buildings ... I have looked at the regs regarding new drainage fields, and we are ok. Maybe I am being anal regarding the 15m distance, but as our boundary is 4 metres from the house and our garage will be even closer, I just want to avoid any nasty surprises.

My initial thought was whether to get a company in to do ground penetrating radar survey to deduce the location. It is an interesting problem, as the estate agent said to me this morning, "so what would you do if you didn't have the luxury of asking the neighbour where their drainage field is located?" I see where he is coming from. Would you simply look at the plot and say "Well, it's under 15m to the immediate neighbours fence, and it's off mains drainage here, so no can do as there could be a drainage field too close to the proposed house" I did speak with a company who said they could do a cctv survey, but he stated that if the system is old, then it might not even have a drainage field, and it might also be clogged up and the camera will not penetrate very far.

Thanks Gus. It is all a bit strange. Although planning will approve a new house and building control will apply the regs when you install a new sewage treatment plant and drainage field, I do find it strange that there is no check as part of planning to make sure that the new dwelling is not being built right by an existing drainage field. In the US, I think drainage fields are registered with the local authority so that you can do a search to find out where there are in a given area. In the UK it seems that there are thousands which are installed and their location is forgotten about.

I should have been more clear. They have split their large garden into two and got planning approval for a new dwelling at the side of their current house.

Nothing is simple 😞 The plot of land we are buying has one outstanding enquiry before we can exchange. The vendor cannot tell us the location of their drainage field, as they say they don't know. Our concern is that it sits on the plot that we are buying, or sits on their land but right by the boundary and will therefore be closer than the current regulation of 15m away from any building. I've got a horrible feeling that it's going to put a spanner in the works. I am going to pay to have the survey done on their drains as I don't think the vendor will do it. If I have to pay £500 so as to save a £350k mistake, then it's money well spent. Does anyone know whether a standard CCTV drainage survey will provide a drainage field map, or whether I need to use a different specialist?

Not sure where to post this, but I thought general joinery, given it's the carpenter who installs the reglet. You can also download a pdf too. https://www.finehomebuilding.com/project-guides/drywall/installing-reglet-trim Another article on the same site had the image below. Using oak would look stunning.

Has anyone installed this over the top of the rafters and under the tiles with celotex / between the rafters. Looks much quicker to install across the rafters than to be faffing around trying to fix it underneath the rafters. Also means that your plasterboard installation is much easier as you are fitting it straight onto the rafter as opposed to PIR. If so, how did you find it, and did you have any cold bridging / condensation issues. Rather sceptical how stapling it to the rafters does not compress it so much that you do get cold bridging across the rafters.

I am currently researching about installing the foul water drainage and wonder if you can clarify something here. If you are using trench fill footings, then your soil pipes are put into the ground before you pour the footings, and if you are using slab then can be fitted once the footings are poured? I'd like to understand the order surrounding pulling the footings / digging drainage trenches and then the subsequent pouring of the footings.