Building control consent

[^woody^]

The point of the first drain survey would be to locate the pipe and confirm its condition. Get hold of the survey and it will define were the sewer is

The chances of you damaging a pipe 7.5m down are about the same as your BCO getting the annual building control award for practical advice.

TBO, if the water authority have agreed your plans, then this implies that the proposed work will be satisfactory in terms of the b/regs. I would challenge the BCO on this basis and take it to appeal if necessary.

In any case your house insurance will most likley cover you for any future problems

 

[mikric]

As previously get a proper survey , without an actuall true idea of what you are up against a solution cannot be found you need the facts of what you are up against .Not sure challenging your bco will help, try to go higher than the site bco contact the labc office and get hold of the manager for advise, after all you have paid them a fee so should expect a decent positive service and you really need them on side for this one. It has been known for labc to over rule a SE s design if they are unhappy with it.

 

[Shytalkz]

It has been known for labc to over rule a SE s design if they are unhappy with it.

Are you one of those brave souls then, Mik? Or are you actually referring to a checking engineer (in (worst kind) or out (not much better) of house) not agreeing with the design, as I have never seen a BCO go against anything that I or any other SEs have designed/specified/said in 30-odd years of playing the game.

 

[mikric]

It has been known for labc to over rule a SE s design if they are unhappy with it.

Are you one of those brave souls then, Mik? Or are you actually referring to a checking engineer (in (worst kind) or out (not much better) of house) not agreeing with the design, as I have never seen a BCO go against anything that I or any other SEs have designed/specified/said in 30-odd years of playing the game.

Yes Shy have known an SE design be over ruled regarding a foundation design and tree location problems. Only come across it once though , but it proves it is possible , even the SE was stunned when told sorry but no way !!But you are quite right we do use checking engineers for larger scale projects and advice.

 

[Shytalkz]

Blimey...what were the bones of contention there then?

 

[brikwiti]

Thank you all for your posts your advice is much appreciated. I am currently waiting for a formal response from Building Control who in turn are waiting for Thames Water. I will post further news in due course.

 

[mikric]

It was regarding a conifer hedge and trees about 1m away from a foundation in clay. The said conifers were topped at 2 m which he then used to calculate the depth required . Then submitted to his client with a dig depth of 1mx 600 ie standard foundation. As you know conifers this close goes straight off the NHBC scale and into engineer design. This was then queried with SE in question who had failed to take the mature height of said trees as they had been topped. Resident tree expert at LA consulted who confirmed even when topped conifers still grow, therefore height of conifers un-enforceable in future and design rejected, and told to re calculate. Not by me though

 

[Shytalkz]

I agree totally with that stance as well. Yours that is! If they'd been pulled out and their height at time of felling was known, I would have pro-rata'd the depth per NHBC, but other than that, it would have to be mature height for depth calculations. Silly SE...

 

[noseall]

over engineering is the safty net of many an s.e.

what happened to derring-do?

are insurance companies that bothered. irony.

 

[Shytalkz]

Many, but not all .

However, having conifers within 1m of a footing and basing the depth on a lopped height of 2m, when they can go to 24m, is asking for the building to move in the future, if it's on traditional founds.

There's derring-do, then there's abject stupidity.

 

[brikwiti]

Thames Water have informed Building Control that a cantilever foundation would be acceptable provided that the augered pile within the cantilever foundation is 1.0m away from the public sewer. As the drive is 2.4 metres wide I don't see how we can proceed. They have provided a map of the sewer which I have attached. This is so frustrating especially since the house is within three metres of the sewer and therefore should also have 7.5 metre deep foundations according to their requirements. Do I have any options left?

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• brikwiti
• 5 Dec 2008
• 1

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