Chimney removal

[scarletlion]

Hi all,

Ok, I need a bit of advice here please. Victorian style mid terrace.

How is the council likely to react if a homeowner in a house like this wishes to remove the main chimney stack? Nobody else in the street appears to have removed their main (front) Chimney.

Would the council even come out and look?

Does this work require building regs etc?

Thanks

 

[tony1851]

Does this work require building regs etc?

Strictly yes, because you would need to insert a new rafter or two, but in practice, no. Why pay £££ when not really necessary?

Planning not required unless listed building.

 

[scarletlion]

Thanks. Does a chimney typically cost more to re-point or remove totally?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Strictly yes, because you would need to insert a new rafter or two, but in practice, no. Why pay £££ when not really necessary?

Because that is what the law says, and contravention of it IS a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £5,000.

You must not advise people to carry out criminal acts.

 

[tony1851]

I can just see the headlines in his local paper;


'Local man fined £5,000 for putting additional 60cm rafter in roof'

Magistrates heard today that X, of Acacia Avenue, put a new rafter in his roof without informing the council, contrary to the Building Act, section xyz. Said the chief magistrate Bloggs: "we can't have people doing this all the time, otherwise law and order in the borough will break down. We could even have people blocking up air vents, or isolating the fan in the wc - it's disgraceful and must be punished'


(further down in the paper is an item about a yob who pushed an old lady to the ground to steal her purse, and was fined £75 plus costs and told not to do it again).

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Well - I guess we can look forward to you advising people to push old ladies to the ground to steal their purses then, since you don't seem to care what is or is not illegal, and only worry about likely fines.

The point is that no matter what you think of the law, it does exist, and it is wrong to tell people to ignore it.

 

[tony1851]

Well - I guess we can look forward to you advising people to push old ladies to the ground to steal their purses then, since you don't seem to care what is or is not illegal, and only worry about likely fines.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

?

How hard of thinking are you?

 

[tony1851]

?

How hard of thinking are you?

You know full-well I was not advising people to push elderley ladies to the ground to steal their purses.

I was making the perfectly valid point that some crimes are more serious than others, and that contravention of the more petty of the building regulations would not be regarded by most sensible people as a serious crime.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Maybe not, but that does not alter the position that you must not advise people to do anything other than comply with the law.

 

[jamesnewhere]

Just adding my little past experience re chimney stack removal.
My idea is to do it all to current regulations and permissions as i am selling in 18 months.
I asked my local council via a very quick phone call and i was told to fill in a form called, householder development planning questionnaire. google that.
I filled in the form with photos of the existing stack and a sketch of the way the rafters will be extended and a brief statement how the roof will be finished off,ie new matching roof tiles,new matching ridge tiles,etc.
Apart from the building safety reasons they were also very interested in the visual impact of the proposed removal and they said it would be out of character for a building of its age.

So i gave up and bringing forward my move date. poxy council pillocks .

 

[tony1851]

Just adding my little past experience re chimney stack removal.
My idea is to do it all to current regulations and permissions as i am selling in 18 months.
I asked my local council via a very quick phone call and i was told to fill in a form called, householder development planning questionnaire. google that.
I filled in the form with photos of the existing stack and a sketch of the way the rafters will be extended and a brief statement how the roof will be finished off,ie new matching roof tiles,new matching ridge tiles,etc.
Apart from the building safety reasons they were also very interested in the visual impact of the proposed removal and they said it would be out of character for a building of its age.

So i gave up and bringing forward my move date. poxy council pillocks .

Unless it was a listed building (?) it would not be a planning issue. They were probably just trying to get an application fee out of you.

First rule of building: 'think very carefully before contacting the council'.

 

[cjard]

The point is that no matter what you think of the law, it does exist, and it is wrong to tell people to ignore it.

You don't really get on with the concept of "de minimis", do you?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I know what it means.

Please show me where the Building Regulations exempt minor structural alterations - I must have missed it.

 

[cjard]

Please show me where the Building Regulations exempt minor structural alterations

You don't really get the concept of "de minimis", do you?