Good afternoon. Have entered the world of water supply approval. Seems to be a stressful step. Never having done this before - architect says have to do it myself  - nothing to do with them. Builder seems to see it as something far in the future and doesn’t have water approved plumber.  Seems best option is to leave it in the total hands of utility company. Is this recommended.

So you mean apply for a new water connection? Get it in asao as could take months to sort out. Start by phoning the water company and ask to speak to the new connections team. It's simple, they'll probably just ask for a location map and your connection point.

Hi @Bungalow Bill

 

Are you building a new house from scratch or upgrading an existing property?

 

Funnily enough I just saw Scottish Water today on site. The people I have met/spoken to have been quite helpful, but back at head office their strict adherence to rules and bureaucracy has made them a real pain to deal with, causing a lot of delays and a lot of expense.

 

If you are building a new property they will want you to try to build a soakaway rather than connect your rainwater to the drainage system.

 

We had to pay a structural engineer to draw up drainage plans. It was £1250+VAT which I thought was expensive, but he said was due to how much time he would waste talking to Scottish Water. With what I know now he was right and we were probably undercharged.

 

I recommend you get as much stuff as possible signed off by them before you start as it can have major implications for a build.

 

They also insist on you using a Watersafe plumber and filling in forms re this. If not they may have to inspect your interior pipework also.

 

https://www.watersafe.org.uk/?gclid=CjwKCAjwm8WZBhBUEiwA178UnOZNdqj4oyoFl_GWePGT_NEjUnsMxxL-bFzskb6PHd1hKHfO67COwBoCiAYQAvD_BwE

 

 

This seems in tune. Done the soakaway plan, just about enough room to squeeze it in. The acceptance and control system is based on using the online portal, which occasionally flips. Just trying to decide whether to tick the Safe Water plumber box, remote track survey box or utility do it all box. Received a quotation but have to complete the form to get an invoice to get approval, but the builder is some months away from the work so not sure, but presume the form can be changed later. Usually the telephone help system is flexible to make allowance for the system.