Local authority building control vs independent building inspector

[magutosh]

Hi guys,

 

I searched above terms but returned little information.

 

For those of you have done a new build/major building work, which route did you opt for and why? 

 

Protek put us in touch with an independent building inspector, his fee came out £330 + vat more than local authority, are there any benefits going with an independent BCO to justify the extra cost?

 

Thank you.

[PeterW]

Horses for courses.

 

I find independent more responsive and was also useful as it was single inspection for warranty also. Local BCO is now a shared service with 3 councils and I’ve heard horror stories of missed inspections and failed concrete pours delayed as they haven’t turned up when booked. 

[nod]

Not much between in price 

Private tend to be slightly more 

I contacted three private 

All wanted several days notice 

Where  as Local authority call before 10am Same day visit 

Whilst booking ahead isn’t a problem most of the time 

When you are doing the foundations it is 

Ours called morning and afternoon twice when I was doing the house foundations 

[Hilldes]

1 hour ago, magutosh said:

Protek put us in touch with an independent building inspector, his fee came out £330 + vat more than local authority, are there any benefits going with an independent BCO to justify the extra cost?

I’ve just gone with private BC via Protek. Works out cheaper than local authority because the Protek technical audit fee drops with private BC.  I got quotes for both local authority and private BC for comparison.

[magutosh]

13 hours ago, Hilldes said:

I’ve just gone with private BC via Protek. Works out cheaper than local authority because the Protek technical audit fee drops with private BC.  I got quotes for both local authority and private BC for comparison.

 

Thank you all for replying.

 

We have decided the same. 

 

What confused us was Protek didn't separate the technical audit fee from private building control, so really it was like comparing apples to pears. 

 

They have clarified that over the phone, so we will go with private building control now.

[ToughButterCup]

15 hours ago, magutosh said:

....

I searched above terms but returned little information.

....

Thanks very much for doing that.  Saves us a lot of time .

 

The search engine in this site is very good indeed.

[Mania]

Hi Magutosh

 

Thank you for your post, its really helpful. I hope you are getting on well. 

 

We are at the stage of discharging our conditions (landscape, Suds, Water Usage & Contamination) and having our construction drawings put together, speaking to our Structural Engineer and I think the next step is to start our search for a Building Inspector!

 

I realise your post was a little while ago, but for anyone else reading this now - based on his experience our SE recommended to follow the same course as Peter W did above, especially as our LA are known to give a date and not a time so builders are known to be waiting on site all day. 

 

I was interested to you reference to Protek and looked them up. I think I have missed something - do I need to find a company like Protek before we start our build (est. 1-2 years time)? 

 

Is there anything else I should be doing in respect of the build and work toward final sign off,  any tips please? All will be gratefully received. 

[DragsterDriver]

Some of the private firms are sketchy, I did a few jobs with Aedis ?, but now I find our council building control best. If you want to cut corners deffo use a non local

independent- they’ll let you get away with murder.