Building Control - Is it needed?

[sotal]

Got two jobs that I want to do at the house - just wondering if I need building control in or not.

The first is adding an en-suite to the master bedroom, this is going inside the room in the corner.

The second is moving the doorway from the lounge to the kitchen about 6 foot left.


If it helps to know the wall with the door way in is a solid wall that runs across the house, but the house doesn't have any brick walls upstairs.

As for the en-suite it will consist of an electric shower, a sink and a toilet. The Electrics will obviously be done by a part p electrician but I want to do the rest myself. The downstairs toilet is diagonally below the en-suite so that is the obvious place for the waste to go to - but the downstairs toilet goes straight into the ground (doesn't have a stack) - I was going to build an internal stack with a durgo valve on the top and feed the waste from the toilet, the sink, and the shower into it.

So does any of that require Building Control to come and inspect? If it does is there any way to avoid it ie by using a macerator instead? There is a stack on the front of the house for the upstairs bathroom, but that one would be hard to get to - that is also an internal one, but that comes through the roof.

 

[Richard C]

Building Control will almost certainly want to be involved with the new waste/soil pipe arrangements; they will also be interested in what provision you will make for additional, forced ventilation & I’m not entirely sure if you can have a toilet in a bedroom without an intermediate door so you must check that also! Using a macerator will not get you around BC involvement.

Moving the door should not be a problem but, assuming you are going to knock through another hole, you need to check under the floor boards as I have a strong suspicion they may be supporting the 1st floor joists! If it is, you will need a structural lintel over the door & BC may want to see calculations.

I would advise you check all this with your local BC officer before starting any of the work. You can also download the latest building regs from the ODDPM web site.

 

[sotal]

Thanks for the Reply Richard,

The ensuite will have a door, when I say it will be in the corner of the room, I just meant that I won't be knocking out into another room, I will put some partition walls up etc - is that what you meant?

The Wall downstairs does hold the joists etc, so I'm sure it would need a lintel going in - just wasn't sure if BC needed to be involved.

Any idea how much it costs to involve BC? I'm guessing it wouldn't hurt just to ask them if they would be required? Just got to work out how to get in contact - I'll check the council site.

Cheers

 

[sotal]

I've sent an email to the local building control department, with the same info on - thanks

 

[Robert too]

imho , its yes and yes.

BC costs , for up to £5k of works amount to £240 , ( costs vary some areas) then the costs of preparing drawings for the application

 

[sotal]

Ouch - that much - I guess it's a necessary evil though

 

[Softus]

It's necessary, and it isn't an evil, it's for safety.

And if you need a financial incentive, if you don't get a certificate on completion of the work, how much do you think that it might devalue your house when you come to sell it?

 

[Richard C]

imho , its yes and yes.

BC costs , for up to £5k of works amount to £240 , ( costs vary some areas) then the costs of preparing drawings for the application

I think you should get away with far less than that; if your DIYing, just tot up the cost of doing the bits BC have to be involved with, I put in a new en-suite, soil stack, 3 new windows with lintels & some new drain works & only paid £140 for 4 visits! You should be able to down load an application form, explanation booklet & price list from you local council web site.

You need drawings for PP but won’t need anything special for BC, if anything at all; it does rather depend on the authority so ask your BC what they want to see. They won’t necessarily ask for load calculations for the lintel either if it’s straight forward; they weren’t interested in may case, I was using standard steel Catnics on new openings in the first floor (your lintel will probably be either concrete or steel box); they only wanted to inspected the overlaps & cavity closures etc before the new windows went in.

 

[sotal]

Thanks for all the advice,

I've had an autoreply from the building control which says they'll answer within 10 days

I realise it's in the interest of safety and I want them in to make sure it's done right and to protect my investment.


@Richard C - £140 sounds more like what I hoped for, I don't think there is anything out of the ordinary and would anticipate 2 maybe 3 visits

 

[^woody^]

You don't need any drawings at all, you would do this under a Building Notice, and once the application is in you can start within 48 hours of it being validated.

You would uss "Schedule 3" of the building regs application forms - which is for 'other work' not fitting into extension/new build categories.

The fees are based on a table depicting costs for the work. You can't use DIY rates, or say that your mate is doing it for nothing, you must base the work use a commercial estimate (although you don't need to get a formal estimate- just err, estimate it)

You don't pay per visit but for the work to be checked. Even a new house or extension only requires 5 formal visits - any more are optional.

For this work you are probably look at two at the most - one when you install the door support, and the other when you have finished

 

[Robert too]

Building control will require the basics ,even under a building notice they want something .

fees in Berkshire are £140 for up to 2k of works , for works 2k - 5k its £240

 

[^woody^]

No a building notice is just that - a form. No drawings or details are required - except maybe, a block plan for extensions

They may request details or calcs for specific technical compnents, but if it is run of the mill stuff, then nothing else is required.

We've done large extensions and loft conversions off a notice, and only provided steel beam calculations.

A new house, not far from me was done off a notice last year, and only SAP calculations and a block plan were needed

 

[Robert too]

No a building notice is just that - a form. No drawings or details are required - except maybe, a block plan for extensions

Thats a very dangerous game for a diyer to be playing

A building notice requires details of foul or rainwater drainage , a dimensioned block plan and a few other snippets.

The fact you can mostly get away with not providing the requested info is another matter .

I have spent many hours so far this year trying to get a builder off the hook after he carried out a few loft and normal extensions on a notice , I wont be doing any more , and i do a lot of work with him .