woodman23 Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Hi All, Looking for some advice. Our neighbours are carrying out an extension to their property. The builders have been excavating for the last 3 weeks or so. In their schedule of works provided in our party wall agreement, they’ve stated shuttering would be installed in stages to support the area. In the picture, our property is to the left of the fence, the excavation depth is currently around 2m below our path, with no support current installed. On the opposite side, they are using some OSB and the weight of their dumper to support an old garden wall. would this be classed as a dangerous structure? Or does anyone know where building control would sit if they were aware of this? Also to add, they haven’t yet had building regs approval for their application. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 No advice from me at all about what to do, other than check your house insurance and see if it cover legal disputes with neighbour. Maybe this should be merged in with the below threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Why have they dug so close to your fence there, where further back the excavation is further from the fence? What will fall into their garden if it collapses? a bit of lawn? or your house? Even a gale at the moment would topple your fence. I would go round and speak to the neighbour immediately, or if the workmen are there speak to them and make your concerns known. What do the plans show here? How do you know building control has not been approved yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman23 Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 They’ve dug out so that it’s all level with the extension, as the garden goes uphill. our path is directly next to the fence, so this would potentially fall into their excavated area. when they began work I contacted the council as there was no building control case for the extension, and they informed me that nothing had been submitted. After the council said they would go round and inspect an application was sent in, but this still hasn’t been approved as the council said it would take around 5 weeks, this was only 2 weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 What does the planning permission say? Are they building an extension right to the fence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman23 Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Planning permission doesn’t say much at all, while thing has been sketchy from the start. they aren’t building right up to the fence, but putting in a retaining wall to support it. Main concern at the moment is the fact no shuttering or support has been installed at all, and we’ve been told they have concrete being poured on Thursday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canski Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Why not go round and chat to the builders and ask what their plans are for the next week or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 So likely the foundations for the retaining wall poured on Thursday then they will build the wall. Once that is up the danger is over for your garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman23 Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Will a retaining wall on its own be strong enough to support this? The schedule of works says there should be 1.2m steel box sections erected to support the walls with shuttering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 That's why you need to speak to them, to make sure they are doing what the schedule says not making it up. Express your concern that until it is shuttered or the retaining wall built, it is very vunerable in it's present state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, woodman23 said: Will a retaining wall on its own be strong enough to support this? The schedule of works says there should be 1.2m steel box sections erected to support the walls with shuttering Of course, assuming designed by the SE in charge and they are actually following the design. The steel referenced is the temporary shuttering support. The builder will be hiring this all in so he's not going to have it sitting on site for longer than is needed. The soil looks firm and dry .. as long as it doesn't rain really heavily it won't go anywhere. But you're right, it's definitely not best practice to leave an excavation like this unsupported. Keep an eye on them tho and keep taking photos. For that size excavation, I'd be wanting to see at least a 200mm thick wall with plenty of rebar in it, tied to a footing at least 50% the retaining height of the wall and similar thickness. Edited February 5, 2023 by Conor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Vertical cuts in soil can never be assumed to be safe. Get them to sort it asap - it's contrary to the party wall agreement and to CDM2015 regulations. If they fob you off, report to the HSE. (Vertical cuts can be stable for a short time but no way to predict this and they don't control the weather) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodman23 Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Thanks, that’s really helpful. I’ve contact building control at the council, hopefully they may take some action, otherwise I’ll contact HSE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twice round the block Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 HSE Have the power to shut down a job instantly, if they are not happy with any part of it. Even the vibration caused by a diggers engine ticking over is enough to collapse any excavation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canski Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 I had to call them out to a lethal scaffold once where people could have died. They didn’t bother coming out. It was at least 15 years ago so maybe they have improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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