building control or dick turpin

[cumbrianroofer]

i did a roof recently as per spec closed ceiling so kingspan insulation fitted followed by phone call from customer say building control would not sign off roof after speaking to building control i was informed bearing in mind i have never recieved any info through post and i do mainly site work than private every roof you do must be assessed at a cost of £75 which obviously you relay to customer which seemed rather unfair to me just wondered if was same all over country and what your thoughts were

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

Cant help on that one.Only do private work these days and tbh hardly do any new builds,i wont even go to price them unless its for someone i know.PS £75 i suppose someone has got to pay the suits to feel important eh?and they say were the cowboys.

 

[cumbrianroofer]

this was on a strip and reslate the customer works for council but build control assure me any roof where ya take off more than 25% they must assess and charge this money seems like a rip off to me

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

Does seem like a rip off,a legal con.

 

[SurreyRoofingEstimator]

To comply with regs, if you are re-covering more than 25% of a roof, the insulation has to be bought up to current spec. The problem with this is that different councils BC offices do things differently depending where you are. One local council to us don't seem to want to know unless you are changing the weight (or style) of covering wheras another local council will want to inspect the insulation no matter what is going back.

As far as charges are concerned it seems to be either a minimum amount OR a percentrage of the cost of the work, even then there are differences in that some seem to charge a percentage of the whole works whereas they should be charging a percentage of the cost to upgrade the insulation.

Some are quite happy to come out and if the insulation is already to spec won't charge.

Clarification would be good wouldn't it lol

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Shock horror, roofers now have to go through Building Control! Its only one of the most important elements of a building that keeps heat in and rain out. Welcome to the 21st century!

 

[noseall]

I do nothing but build regulated extensions, so I can't even fart without B.C. wanting to sniff.

Roofers, plasterers, plumbers, even brickies are subject to inspection but it is the homeowners' responsibility to ensure that specifications are met especially when the 25% rule is being invoked.

For example; If i was asked to quote to re-roof an existing home, i would point out to the customer that it is a controlled item and that they need to get b.c. involved and either provide me with a schedule or employ a designer to do it for them.

I could of course use past experience but rooms within a loft space do require a little thought and a lot of responsibility as someone needs to carry the can.

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

Shock horror, roofers now have to go through Building Control! Its only one of the most important elements of a building that keeps heat in and rain out. Welcome to the 21st century!

Yup but once again the ones that it effects are the honest reputable roofers.Yet more red tape.Maybe they should try clamping down on the cowboys?dont know about your area but cumbria is rife with cowboys.One gypoe has 3 huge adds in the yellow pages each one has about 5 telephone numbers.Not only that 6 known cowboys all use the same address on their advert.They should come down on these jokers who get us all a bad name.

 

[cumbrianroofer]

instead of going off on one freddie read what im saying what if i price a job and charge £75 and some cowboy does not charge the £75 they get the job and i do not i am an honest working guy and dont mind anyone checking my work but why should i or my customers pay for the privalige

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

It is ultimately the home owners legal responsibility to ensure the works meet the regulations. I would ensure that your quotation makes it clear that they have a responsibility and that you have allowed for a £75 regs fee and suggest that they make sure all of their quotes are like for like. When you go for a re-roof job though, are your competitors really likely to be within £75 of your price anyway?

Really though its no different to the rest of us, in every single profession there are shortcutters who think nothing of . If there were no cowboys in the industry we wouldn't need any Building Regs.

I'm not going off on one but try and work with all of the regs parts A-P, a few regs on a re-roof is child's play.

 

[cumbrianroofer]

you choose to do your trade and i choose to do mine but for you to say move into the 21st century thats right where im at as i said the competancy of my work isnt an issue its the fact that its just another charge also you now have to have a licience to carry rubbish so any to stop fly tipping which i have never done just another charge for the small buisness

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

Yup like i said more red tape and the ones that have to bear all this are us reputable tradesman.We are the ones who play by the rules yet all this red tape aimed at stopping cowboys only effects us not them.You cant kill a snake by jumping on its tail.Clamp down on the cowboys,they are all well known.

 

[Richard C]

I'm not going off on one but try and work with all of the regs parts A-P, a few regs on a re-roof is child's play.

In the current legislative & compliance driven climate, trades increasingly need to understand & take responsibility for the work they do; roofing is no different & probably more important than many others. Many trades take the view that “it’s not my responsibility” but move forward, it should be & that’s the way it’s going. The whole idea is to stop bodge/cowboy/ignorant DIY jobs which are so proliferant & sub-standard, they do no trade any favors at all & often leave the future & unsuspecting owners with serious problems & a bill to match. The BR system is not ideal but the self regulated trades system doesn’t work either IMO; they have reached the stage where many just take advantage & see it as a license to rip off & print money because the punter doesn’t really have any other choice. That's not the answer IMO &, like quango's, I’d get rid of the lot; the only other alternative is LABC, much of it sometimes doesn't seem to follow logic but welcome to the real world folks.

 

[fritz]

£75 seems a small price to pay for piece of mind.
At least there is a sort of safety net if regs have been complied with.
What about insurance also? If you don't get the regs, how would this affect insurance if the job was done badly? Same goes with the bloke that does (if there are any) the drawings? What stops him from producing information that isn't covered by a safety net such as insurance?
iit seems that the punter has top pay again and again unless they are confident to use an uninsured plans producer or a non regs complient design!!
Its the way things are going for sure.