Pvt building inspector

[knownothing14]

Hi All,

This is following my other post.

We are planning to extend our home(semi-det 1930's build London) at the rear and proceeding with planning permission & building reg.

We are contacting some builders to estimate the work and one of the builder suggested about private building inspector which I have never heard off before. We were going to go with council but now looking to understand pvt service.

Have you engaged a private building inspector? Could you please share your opinion - good / bad?

Thanks

 

[cjard]

I've only ever used my council one up to now, but that's because he's fantastic. Many stories I hear of the council ones are less so - overly picky, too strict, difficult to work with and not interesting in helping to devise solutions to problems that have arisen.. Possibly this stems from the fact that they'll probably continue to have a job no matter what, so there isn't really a need to go the extra mile. Contrast that to a private service who get their livelihood from the service they provide and you might well find someone who is much more keen to work with you to overcome problems and ensure that something is built well even if a particular technique you want to use isn't found in the rule book.. Because let's face it, if they were hard to work with, word would get round and they'd go out of business

You get to interview the guy and see if you can work with him, you get to argue the service level and price; essentially you get a choice where formerly you had none (council assign you an officer, end of) etc

I don't know if the difference is as pronounced as NHS vs BUPA, but I'm using a private man for my next project in a different area, because the council there have really let me down so far and I know I'd resent giving them the money. They'd likely then assign me the same BI that a friend actually managed to fire off his project because he was so awkward to work with. Said friend then switched to using a private co, no idea how because I thought once it was done, it was done.. But his build proceeded a lot more smoothly

 

[knownothing14]

Thanks cjard for your reply

how about the cost? are they expensive than council BI?

http://approvedinspectors.org.uk/ - would this be a good site to find a local inspector?

My really doubt is, do they have as much as authority as council? Just don't want to be in a legal complication if we decide to sell out the property anytime.

 

[tony1851]

cjard just about explains it all.

With private inspectors, you wiill still get a certificate of completion, and it will be just as valid as a council certificate.

As an agent, I have worked with both, but increasingly lean to private inspectors as, frankly, they are easier to work with. In my book, there are REGULATIONS and regulations. Structural stability, fire-safety and stairs are vital, other things perhaps less-so. But when council inspectors start measuring the area of ventilation openings, the thickness of quilt in a partition and ascking for heat-loss calculations, it gets ridiculous and it's time to re-consider.

Too often, council inspectors don't care about costs, or schedules and often consider us - the users - as nuisances; private inspectors generally treat clients as proper customers of their service because they want work in the future.

 

[willismp]

I can only speak as I found. Having used both the council are far more helpful, I felt had our interests at heart (not profit) and made as many vists as we wanted (we use them for advice), the private firm did nto wish to visit then wanted to charge extra for advice.

The council did charge more, but we felt this worthwhile.

I presume it depends what you want (just a cert etc) and more importantly the indvidual you get!

We only use the council now.