Building Control and Inspeciton, flat roof, do I, dont I?

[DaMekon]

Just found out that if Im getting my flat roof repaired that I have to get the council round to inspect the works to ensure compliance with Part L1B building regs.

Cost can vary (for some reason), if works <£1000 about £150, if works >£1000 then £285, not quite too sure why.. although bloke on the phone did tell me "if you tell me it was less than £1000, then £150"! I assume they dont ask to see receipts. I could understand if commercial or residential, or if done on house size/value.

Im happy the installer is going to comply with the requirements, so I dont know whether or when to get BC around to inspect. If I dont tell them, and they find out.. what can they do?? Insoect it, say yeah, its ok, then charge me?

Prices or even whether you need it done at all, vary from Council to Council.. which annoys me!

So if I dont tell them, whats the worst that can happen?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Worst case you don't get it done when you come to sell an observant surveyor picks up that you had a new flat roof or the solicitor sees the bill and the question is asked if you got approval or not. Or maybe (since you may have already set the seed with your local BC) they knock on your door and have a chat with you. Then there'll be a letter saying you did illegal works, this would very likely come up in a solicitors search.

A dopey buyer or mortgage company may get nervous, likely an indemnity insurance (around £100-£150) can be bought to satisfy either, occasionally it may not though and you either have to get retrospective approval or the buyer pulls out.

 

[DaMekon]

I did think as ive planted the seed with them, they would probably stroll past my house every now and again to see if its been done, as they have nothing better to do!

Do I need approval prior to installation, as well as inspection afterwards?

If the worst that can happen is they knock on my door, then I say ok, do the inspection.. then Im no worse off. If it doesn't comply, then I go back to the installer and get them to resolve it, as I have written documentation from them to say it will comply with regs.

I wouldn't mind if it was a national thing, or even if all the contractors I had spoken to had told me about it.. in fact, some of unquote I had wouldn't comply with the regs. The council next door may not even require this or may charge less.

If builders are menat to comply with the regs, then I shouldn't need the work inspected afterwards! And if found non compliant, then they should have a legal obligation to rectify.

 

[noseall]

If builders are menat to comply with the regs, then I shouldn't need the work inspected afterwards! And if found non compliant, then they should have a legal obligation to rectify.

You as the homeowner are responsible for complying to regulations and are solely responsible for fees and notification. The onus is on you to seek out the correct design and ask various companies to price to this design.

You builder has a proffessional obligation to advise that reg's may be necessary. He may also be familiar with the latest reg's and offer you a design service.

If you ask a builder to re-felt a roof and he re-felts the roof then hey-ho, he has re-felted the roof.

If you ask a builder to re-felt the roof complying to both heat loss reg's and fire reg's and offer him a compliant design and he does not then you will have recourse.

 

[DaMekon]

If you ask a builder to re-felt the roof complying to both heat loss reg's and fire reg's and offer him a compliant design and he does not then you will have recourse.

So they will knowingly do something that is illegal if you dont tell them?..

If I ask a builder to refelt the roof, I expect him to refelt it in compliance with legal building requirements, that they should know about.

As a home-owner, how am I expected to know that there are building regs for things I know nothing about... They are professionals, by employing them, I am entrusting them to do jobs that comply with legal building requirements.

I actually only found out about these regs as I was calling the council about something else, and they just happened to mention about the inspection.

 

[noseall]

If you ask a builder to re-felt the roof complying to both heat loss reg's and fire reg's and offer him a compliant design and he does not then you will have recourse.

So they will knowingly do something that is illegal if you dont tell them?..

If I ask a builder to refelt the roof, I expect him to refelt it in compliance with legal building requirements, that they should know about.

As a home-owner, how am I expected to know that there are building regs for things I know nothing about... They are professionals, by employing them, I am entrusting them to do jobs that comply with legal building requirements.

I actually only found out about these regs as I was calling the council about something else, and they just happened to mention about the inspection.

The reg's change or are updated frequently.

Not all tradesmen are aware of the latest reg's.

You as the homeowner should seek advice or pay a professional designer to come up with a compliant design which a roofer can follow.

As i said it will be the homeowner who is liable. Whether you then have recourse with a dodgy builder may be a separate issue as will be the burden of proof.

 

[jono_h]

Part L is all about the conservation of power, so you may need to add some insulation, etc.

The risk you run is that the insulation will be under the roof, so if you just go ahead and the Council rumble you afterwards, you're going to need to take something apart to enable them to do an inspction.

 

[paulf1976]

There is a second route to compliance; use a 'competent roofer' that can self certificate under the building regs! No council fees then and you get a certificate for your house deeds.

Realistically it should be one inspection for a flat roof job. All councils can only charge for the work/inspections they do under the 2010 charges regulations so fees should be low, say about £80-120 tops. Challenge any fees higher than this as they won't be justified!

 

[DavidAC123]

I have a similar problem. I need a flat roof recovered and got some quotes. Most don't mention building regulations. I only found out when one did. When I looked at the other quotes none would comply with the insulation. When I asked for it to comply a typical response is they don't want to know. Even if I pay for it one contractor would not hang aroung waiting for a building inspector. The insulation will be exposed to the elements waiting for an inspector. If it rains it could get damaged.

I got a quote from a member of the competent roofer scheme. He sent me the regulations. The thickness of insulation he specifies and quoted for did not comply to the latest regulations that he sent me. It is proving next to impossible to get someone to do the work and get a certificate. What can I do? It is leaking and needs doing now.

 

[tony1851]

If the worst that can happen is they knock on my door, then I say ok, do the inspection.. then Im no worse off.
.

You could be worse of because the regularization fee they charge now is a lot more.
There is a multiplier system depending on how much of the work has been done prior to notification. If I remember correctly, it's 225% for work completed.

 

[b3taman]

I feel sorry for you, DaMekon - I agree it's not really fair to expect you to know that having a flat roof refelted apparently requires building regs approval.
I've recently had a flat roof refelted and neither contractor who quoted for the work ever mentioned anything about building regs, so this is news to me too.
So, the works been done - very nicely too - but I now know not to mention that it's been refelted when I come to sell the property!
Maybe you could call the work 'repairs' - would this mean that building regs wouldn't apply?