DPC missing, what can I do?

[Smithy121]

In short, bought a property in 2003. Consisted of a 1925 house with extension built in 1995.

Recently we've been suffering signs of damp on internal and external walls in the extension.

It looks like there is no damp proof course in the extension and we do have the documentation from the council saying the work was inspected and built to standards expected.

Obviously we're going to be looking at a fair amount of work, so my question is, can we expect to council to pay up if we took the legal route? Any advice or experiences will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[JohnD]

Recently we've been suffering signs of damp on internal and external walls in the extension..

please describe where this damp is, and post some photos. of the wet walls, and of the exterior walls at about ground level, indicating where the internal floor height is. Are the floors concrete?

What are the rooms used for?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

1995, you're having a laugh! Frankly if it was built and signed off last week you wouldn't have any better chance. Building Regs Approval is no guarantee of quality of workmanship. This is a common misconception.

 

[Smithy121]

Recently we've been suffering signs of damp on internal and external walls in the extension..

please describe where this damp is, and post some photos. of the wet walls, and of the exterior walls at about ground level, indicating where the internal floor height is. Are the floors concrete?

What are the rooms used for?

Here are a couple of pix John, the render has a line cut into it around the whole extension. I'd always presumed this was where the dpc was, but after both a surveyor and builder have seen it, they are of the opinion that this line is just an afterthought. I'm getting a chap to come round in a day or so to hack away at the render to confirm once and for all whether there's a deeply hidden dcp, but it certainly looks like there isn't.

The internal floor height is close to a foot above the exterior floor. The floor, as you can see is stone, the extension houses the kitchen, Utility room and a WC.

I have the surveyor's report, which details the problems and solutions but he was presuming the dpc was there. The more we discover, the more it looks like there was never one in the first place.

 

[Smithy121]

1995, you're having a laugh! Frankly if it was built and signed off last week you wouldn't have any better chance. Building Regs Approval is no guarantee of quality of workmanship. This is a common misconception.

If only I was...

What's the point of having building regs and council docs supporting them if there's no come back?

I would have thought that omitting a whole dpc was slightly more serious than just demonstrating poor quality of workmanship. Anyway, the reason I thought to post my question on this forum was that I'd been told by a builder that I could go back to the council. I am just trying to get a broader set of views and often look at the posts on here because people know what they're talking about.

Thanks for your reply though, I usually expect the worst with these types of problems.

 

[noseall]

A building inspector will visit a site and inspect what is displayed before him. He does not stand there throughout the whole building process keeping watch upon errant cowboys.

Builders have been known to fool one or two inspectors into seeing what they need to see.

As Freddie has stated, having building control involved is nowt to do with quality of workmanship.

 

[^woody^]

The images are too close to give any real context

But from that internal image, there does not appear to be any staining associated with a rising damp and the blown paint/plaster seems a bit too even

Although rising damp is a possibility, that type of defect is very similar to what would be expected from a thermal bridge (ie cold spot) from either a blocked cavity or a different course of bricks and blocks on the internal leaf of the wall ... which leads to condensation damp on the cold wall surface. and as this is a utility room then it will be more prone to this type of problem at floor level.

It could also be moisture running down and settling on any DPC and making the wall damp at the bottom

By all means check for a DPC, but that is not the only possibility. Your surveyor should have explored all the possibilities

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Builders have been known to fool one or two inspectors into seeing what they need to see.

Confessions?

 

[joinerjohn]

I once had a building inspector , fail a roof I'd put up on someones extension. He wasn't happy about a hip rafter "resting " on the external brickwork (his own words) I phoned him to ask if he'd actually got up on the scaffold for a close look? To which he replied "No I don't climb up scaffolds due to H&S risks." Asking how he could say that the hip was resting on the external brickwork, for a viewpoint 20ft below, he said "It looked like it was."
Unbelievable... I explained that the rafter did indeed have two birdsmouths cut on it (one to rest on the wall plate and one to clear the external brickwork by at least an inch) and he told the owner of the building to get the roof tiler in as he was now happy!!! Just because of a phone call from me! He'd never met me on site nor even knew me.
So it's not just builders who fool building inspectors... They can also fool themselves (by not doing their job properly in the first place)

 

[noseall]

Builders have been known to fool one or two inspectors into seeing what they need to see.

Confessions?

Not this chicken, i like to sleep at nights.