ToughButterCup Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 By what authority may a BCO require a job to be done by a certain date (fit a Juliet balcony) Yes, I have one who is insisting that I get this job done by the 28th of April. I wish him a hearty dose of Osteoarthritis in his hips and a fifty year waiting list. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 No they can’t They can just withhold your completion cert till it’s done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Presume it's a safety thing? Can you offer some other mitigation instead? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Put up a sheet of OSB and see what he says. That's literally what we did. Still not done the balcony 9months later. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 Yes, it's safety. I'm close to losing a sense of humour about this BCO. He's just covering his own Botticelli - couldn't give a stuff about our saftey. I can't do what I can't do at the moment. And I - in turn - couldn't give a stuff about Sign Off. We don't need it. Maybe one day we will, so it'd be nice to have. Thanks Gary. If feel a brief - Up Yours - email to the BCO coming on. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassanclan Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 The only time where they can impose a deadline is if they come for the final inspection and then I think there is 8 weeks to sort out any errors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Just fix something inside across the door to prevent someone opening it and falling out. Bit of 4x2 wrapped in warning tape? Tell him the balcony is on back order. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 What about fitting a window restrictor? https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/browse/window-furniture-and-hardware/window-locks-and-security/window-restrictors A friend has a barn conversion with a full length window in an upstairs bedroom, with one of these and no balcony, so it must have passed BC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, nod said: No they can’t They can just withhold your completion cert till it’s done Yes they can. 28 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, ToughButterCup said: By what authority may a BCO require a job to be done by a certain date (fit a Juliet balcony) Yes, I have one who is insisting that I get this job done by the 28th of April. I wish him a hearty dose of Osteoarthritis in his hips and a fifty year waiting list. As other people have said fit a restrictor stay or stays to the balcony doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 33 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: I'm close to losing a sense of humour about this BCO. He's just covering his own Botticelli - couldn't give a stuff about our saftey. Take a deep breath, a glass of your favourite giggle water, and read your signature. Perhaps if you don't sing to his tune he will say well you should not be living in it until sign off? At least in Scotland we have a formal temporary habitation process that has a less stringent list of things that need to be in place than final completion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canski Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 Sei Ruhig ! You are in pain and want to inflict your pain on the poor officer. He probably deserves it but my question is ….. is he LABC or private ? Get well soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 As Temp suggests. BCO is probably correct that this is unsafe until the gap is safely closed off. He is probably liable if an accident happens when no Juliet has been fitted. You can politely and professionally advise your proposals. This could be a bit of osb screwed inside the window/door until the proper balcony appears. Or get some metal trellis that would look better. That would allow temporary habitation/ conditional sign-off. They will not accept assurances that the door will be kept locked. So it is a nice letter and £30 of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 1 hour ago, ETC said: As other people have said fit a restrictor stay or stays to the balcony doors. What can they do and how long would it take Before you answer Look at Ian’s previous posts about his neighbor digging a ces pit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 That's very loyal of you Gary. Thank you. Yes, all of you are all right. I should; shut up, read my signature line and fit a restrictor of some sort. Even just a bit of 4x2 across the window will do. What I object to in this case is the manner in which this whole matter has been handled by the BCO. I really can't do any work on the house at the moment because both my hips have been operated on and it's hard enough to pick up anything from the floor let alone do any work around the house. They have been told that formally. I intend to start work when I'm signed back on again , I've sent them the minutes of our meeting outlining what should happen and when. I think they've lost those and they've just decided to have a little paddy. Well I can have a paddy too. It's about time I learned from my English colleagues. Stuff them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 After having written the above post, I took a shower and a dose ofTramadol. The world looks different when you've had a good slug of morphine. You know how a friend or close relative can see what you - ill, upset, cross and in pain - can't see..... well Debbie asked me if I'd had my painkillers yet this morning. 😔 I'm trying hard to do without them - but I should have taken the hint when they sent me out of hospital with 100 Tramadol (morphine) tablets. Maybe I'm not the RoughTough HeMan I once was. I was hoping to finance a decent night out in Lancaster with most of that box of Tramadol. A more detailed reading of the email from the HoD of the BCOs at Wyre Borough shows that the original rude BCO is off the case: I've been told to contact his younger colleague. Is it just me and @nod who get rude BCOs? Lesson? Stay fit and well or don't build a house. Welcome to the newly avuncular, pleasant Ian. Now, lets check: where's that Tramadol ? - Top stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 yes they can ONLY if its a defect found on the final inspection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 only had to kick a BCO off site once and that was to prevent him being done injury by a brickie who he was trying to tell his work was wrong (it wasn't). brickie 55 bco 21 They are theory merchants only, very rare you get an experienced one i find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 Thing is @Dave Jones, all my professional life I've had to deal with challenging behaviour: from nasty hairy-arsed sergeants to screaming toddlers or neighbours who nailed our gates shut when we got Planning Permission. Or people who broke my nose in the Pot Still in Glasgow. I've got to the stage where I think of bad behaviour as normal and to be expected. And to admit that mine isn't perfect either. In this instance, I should have been more than capable of dealing with the core issue (safety) and have been able to look past the rudeness and sloppy practice. Its just when you've been in pain for a good month or so, it wears you down. There's less spare capacity to deal with an official who tells simple lies and on the basis of that, threatens unwarranted legal action. I'd just had enough AND wasn't taking my pain killers. Next time, I'll ignore the email, take my pain meds and wait 48 hours. Then be as unreasonable as I can be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 12 hours ago, ProDave said: At least in Scotland we have a formal temporary habitation process 11 hours ago, saveasteading said: That would allow temporary habitation/ conditional sign-off The temporary habitation certificate is a Scottish thing. Here, you can move in when you want if you have satisfied planning conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 I took issue with some of the procedures that BC employ. When we had our final inspection for sign off they found 2 faults. Both minor. One was just proving the clearance distances for the stove (I could have showed her the manual and loaned her a tape measure to check if she had only asked at the time) and the other was the step down from the house to the garage was too big for one step so I had to install a fixed step. I would have expected just an informal notification of these defects, but what I instead got was a formal "refusal to issue completion certificate" stating the reasons. Which meant I had to re apply for a completion certificate again when I had attended to the items. It certainly made more paperwork for me and must have also done for them. Or is is like an MOT test station where if you don't fail a certain percentage of tests, something must be wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saveasteading Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 1 hour ago, ProDave said: Or is is like an MOT test station where if you don't fail a certain percentage of tests, something must be wrong? No I think it might be expectations though. Take in your 3 year old car to a trustworthy garage. They expect it to pass but do the tests they have to. Take in a 20 year old thing, and they expect it to fail, and i think will look harder at nooks and crevices. BCO similarly has expectations. Hands on , self builder is not knowingly cutting corners, but may have knowledge gaps. A small contractor that they know, who has and refers to the drawings. It's going to be ok. One BCO told me that the most issues were on main contractor (the big names), big developments. The chain is so long that the work is done by a secodary gang of a 4th tier subby. They don't know what they are doing or why, and don't care. He asked one such why the reinforcement was not in place when concrete was due in an hour. "On its way". He went back in an hour to see the concrete laid but no reinforcement. There follows lots of paperwork and unpleasantness. The contractor prob moaned about being picked upon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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