LABC Really? No Scottish cover

[SuperJohnG]

Just received this from LABC

 

 

I mean really?. this has somewhat p!ssed me off.

 

 I've also had I-C-W say they cant quote as I am not using a main contractor.  Protek says they wont cover SIPS.

 

NHBC wont cover self builds anymore I believe. So I am left with Self Build zone and that's it. at £3.5k and £2.6k of this is inspection fees, the premium is only £1300

 

 

rant over...thanks for reading. ?

Edited August 4, 2020 by SuperJohnG

[ProDave]

Building control is still under the control of the local councils in the whole of Scotland.

[PeterW]

If you use Self Build Zone then go to Sennocke directly and not through a broker ..! 

[the_r_sole]

you're using a specialist construction method without a main contractor so the risk for a structural warranty provider are massively increased for a job like this so it makes sense that your options become more limited .

LABC don't cover scotland because their warranty is reliant on the LABC guys doing the inspections for building reg compliance, and in Scotland that's only done by the Local Authorities - which does an big advantage at times!

[SuperJohnG]

On 04/08/2020 at 14:57, ProDave said:

Building control is still under the control of the local councils in the whole of Scotland.

 

@ProDave This is just a structural warranty I want though? so does this make a difference. I did think at some point hey had made a mistake and they were including for building control. But would seem they still need to inspect it?

On 04/08/2020 at 15:03, PeterW said:

If you use Self Build Zone then go to Sennocke directly and not through a broker ..! 

@PeterW I did this already (had seen another post yours saying to do this thanks) sennocke just sends you back to self build zone direct. it yielded the above quote. Which was a few hundred quid cheaper when compared with through Buildstore or similar.

 

On 04/08/2020 at 15:26, the_r_sole said:

you're using a specialist construction method without a main contractor so the risk for a structural warranty provider are massively increased for a job like this so it makes sense that your options become more limited .

LABC don't cover scotland because their warranty is reliant on the LABC guys doing the inspections for building reg compliance, and in Scotland that's only done by the Local Authorities - which does an big advantage at times!

 

@the_r_sole I don't understand what advantage it adds if you can elaborate? I'll still have to have these inspections regardless of the fact that the LA are inspecting. I get a don't have a main contractor, but i do have supply and erect for the main structure from an LABC/NHBC/PREMIER approved supplier (SIPS ECO). Theroretically if you build it to the drgs and thats sigend of by LA building control then it should be fine. Anyone can cut corners....that fact it is a main contractor or individual does not matter. 

 

thanks for all your comments so far. 

 

[the_r_sole]

16 hours ago, SuperJohnG said:

 

@ProDave This is just a structural warranty I want though? so does this make a difference. I did think at some point hey had made a mistake and they were including for building control. But would seem they still need to inspect it?

 

 

@the_r_sole I don't understand what advantage it adds if you can elaborate? I'll still have to have these inspections regardless of the fact that the LA are inspecting. I get a don't have a main contractor, but i do have supply and erect for the main structure from an LABC/NHBC/PREMIER approved supplier (SIPS ECO). Theroretically if you build it to the drgs and thats sigend of by LA building control then it should be fine. Anyone can cut corners....that fact it is a main contractor or individual does not matter. 

 

thanks for all your comments so far. 

 

 

Their inspectors will be used to inspecting things to English Regs compliance which are different to the technical Standards here so it's much more of a risk for LABC to provide inspections on sites where they aren't experienced in the compliance requirements. Having an NHBC "approved supplier" in the chain means literally nothing, it only means something if you use an NHBC registered contractor to complete the works and give you a guarantee...

Anyone can cut corners but the scottish regs help to protect against that a little and if there is a main contractor involved the insurer has someone to sue at the end of the day - and in reality they will be much more experienced that a self builder in building houses... It's all about the risk.

Having said that, most self builds I've seen have been put together better, with more attention to detail than a lot of contractor delivered homes.

Having compliance inspections carried out by the local authority who get a fixed fee means they have no encouragement to not follow the regs, I've seen a number of private building control inspectors allow things on site that have been a bit iffy! You only need to look at the huge scandals in the press about construction quality to see what danger there is in incentivising the sign off of buildings with big wads of cash!