BI Goodbye

[Barney12]

So, I had my 5th visit from the local authority building inspector yesterday.

 

1. Foundation/Radon barrier

2. DPC

3. Frame erected.

4. Block work DPC

5. Block work cavity inspection 

 

The meeting was a few minutes and went like this:

 

Me: "Would you like to inspect the cavities?"

BI: "I can if you like but if you're happy then that's fine"

 

BI has a wander around inside and out making various comments about it looking well built. 

 

Me: "So when do you want to visit next?"

BI: "Give us a call when it's finished. You know what you're doing."

 

I then run through the various bits of paper he'll need for the completion cert.

 

Me: "Do you want the water consumption calc"

BI: "Have you done one?"

Me: "No. But I can put something on a peice of paper"

BI "Well if you like. I doubt we'll ask for it. Entirely pointless"

 

Meeting ends!

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Alphonsox]

Much the same experience we had. We were pretty much told that the BI major focus was builders trying to scrape a few extra quid from each house they built by cutting corners. As self builders with a big interest in getting things right they were quite happy for us to get on with it.

[Jeremy Harris]

Mirrors my final inspection.  I had all the certificates, bit of paper, etc lined up on the kitchen worktop for inspection, with spare copies for the BI.  He never even glanced at them, let alone take the copies I'd printed off.  He walked around, made encouraging noises about the wide doors and compliance with Part M, had a bit of a chat then left, saying that the completion certificate would be emailed to me later that afternoon.

[Crofter]

When my Dad (a civil engineer) was building a house, the BCO told him to stop phoning up asking for inspections because everything he had done was perfect. Which is a great story until you learn that all this perfection slowed the build down so much that it was never actually completed

 

On my last house, I was really surprised that the joiner working with me insisted that we box away everything structural without any inspections first- we were doing a loft conversion and making some alterations to the joists. But sure enough on my one and only inspection, the BCO just wandered about with a tape measure and checked things like the handrail height and the MOE window. His biggest concern was whether we'd deviated from the plans, and when I told him that we hadn't, he was happy as Larry.

[Jeremy Harris]

This sort of explains how tragedies like Grenfell Tower happen.  I wouldn't mind betting that there was a cosy relationship between building control and the appointed contractor, which resulted in nothing being looked at in close detail, just a glance that things seemed to be using the "right" materials (if that).

 

I'm sure self-builders are seen as low risk by building control a a general rule, as we're investing a great deal of personal time into our projects, and that personal commitment alone is enough to make most self-builders want to do things properly, or see that they are done properly.

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, JSHarris said:

[...]

that personal commitment alone is enough to make most self-builders want to do things properly, or see that they are done properly.

 

Like

"Take this rubbish down and rebuild it: and while you are at it you  can forget that invoice you've just submitted."

 

[gravelld]

I'm guessing they don't have the time to enforce quality. We all know the regs are pretty weak in certain areas, but I don't think they even have the resources to enforce what regs do exist.

 

Which is pretty good news for some (probably most) and so not sure why it will change.

Edited September 1, 2017 by gravelld

[ProDave]

Don't employ the joiners that are doing the extension I am currently working on.

 

This is a sun room extension and new kitchen on a 1980's bungalow. The joiners took up the kitchen floor because it was sagging and put extra supports under the inadequate sized joists. The original floor had no insulation under it, and it staggered me when they put the new floor down with no insulation and no thought it might be a good idea to put some there.

 

Then this is how they fitted the flooring around the pipes, so not only is the floor not insulated, there's huge gaps for a howling gale to enter.  The lack of thought is truly staggering.

[Barney12]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

Don't employ the joiners that are doing the extension I am currently working on.

 

This is a sun room extension and new kitchen on a 1980's bungalow. The joiners took up the kitchen floor because it was sagging and put extra supports under the inadequate sized joists. The original floor had no insulation under it, and it staggered me when they put the new floor down with no insulation and no thought it might be a good idea to put some there.

 

Then this is how they fitted the flooring around the pipes, so not only is the floor not insulated, there's huge gaps for a howling gale to enter.  The lack of thought is truly staggering.

 

Surely the plumber could have soldered those two 90's and one straight too? Hardly much of a chore?

 

[Crofter]

1 hour ago, Barney12 said:

 

Surely the plumber could have soldered those two 90's and one straight too? Hardly much of a chore?

 

Yes, why would you use copper pipe and plastic fittings?

I've actually gone for the opposite- brass compression fittings onto Hep20 pipe. Seemed like the best mix of avoiding joins and having small enough fittings to fit into my 25mm service void. Although I think I'm going to manage to arrange it so that all of the fittings are accessible anyway, with nothing boxed away behind the PB.

[PeterW]

Copper and plastic fittings is fine - nothing wrong with it but it's not pretty .... 

 

I do wonder looking at that if they are temporary - odd way to pipe something up from a stopcock. 

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, Barney12 said:

 

Surely the plumber could have soldered those two 90's and one straight too? Hardly much of a chore?

 

That's just temporary until the sink unit is in and he comes back to plumb the sink. Probably just a temporary loop to ensure the rest of the house gets some water.  The plumber doing it doesn't solder any more. He has one of those very expensive copper pipe crimp tools.

[PeterW]

13 minutes ago, ProDave said:

He has one of those very expensive copper pipe crimp tools.

 

They aren't too expensive when you buy the Wavin system as if you talk to the rep you can get about £300 off the tools when you buy £300 of fittings. 

 

I don't do enough to warrant getting one as I can't use that many fittings on this build ..! I also don't like the idea of not being able to demount the fittings in future without having to put new pieces of pipe in.