Building extension near a detached shared sewer

[swebb99]

Hi there,

I live in a detached house and I'm planning on extending my kitchen out the side of the house nearer my alley way. Up along the alley way runs a shared waste pipe that is connected to my house and next door only and these connections can be seen under the man hole cover at the end of the alley way near my rear patio.

I've had a building/kitchen company around and he said the connection point would probably need moving and hence the manhole as well two or three feet further back as the extension wall would be no more than 40cm or so from the existing manhole. He wasn't sure if I would need to deal with the water company and get permission and if I did he said this could really slow things up.

Has anyone any experience on this matter, I know the rules changed in 2011 but I'm a little unclear if work like this can be self certified. The pipe looks like it is roughly 12-15cm.

Thanks in advance.

 

[just pumps]

That would involve council buildings control.

 

[Newboy]

And, most likely, require approval from the owner of the sewer as you seem to be planning to alter the sewer and place foundations very close to it.

 

[swebb99]

Thanks for the replies guys (quickly!!!!). The sewer pipe (80yrs old) already runs along my alley way next to the existing side of the house. My extension will take up some spare area near the rear of the house but running inline with the rest of the side of the house. So after the work no part of the house will be any nearer to the pipe than any existing part of the building. However the fella from the building/kitchen company thought the manhole cover location being near to the new extension wall might cause a problem, so he thought moving the manhole further and also the existing pipe work to connect to that junction would be the way to go.

So I am assuming from your responses that the movement of the manhole cover and the association pipework under it further back would require both council building control and the water company to agree that this is acceptable.

Also worth noting is that roof water is also fed via pipe in to the existing waste water pipe, I hope that they don't complain about this and ask for a soak away. The house is 86yrs old.

Thanks again

 

[Newboy]

Easiest way to check if have a look at the waste water company (not always the same as you water supplier) website for guidance - better to ask now than find out later you can't get building control to sign off

 

[Notch7]

You will need a build over agreement.

the only way to be certain you can do what you want is to supply drawings to the sewer authority for your area and get it approved. You probably wont get an answer without spending money.

For a minor alteration, they may allow your builder to do it, but will want cctv and and inspection, afterwards or sometimes before and after. The last one I was involved with Thames water insisted on a brick built manhole and clay pipes (for the public section, your own conections can be plastic) which adds to the expense.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Existing rainwater drainage arrangements are fine, they cannot ask you to change those. Rainwater can still be put into a sewer on a new build if all other options have been exhausted.

Shared sewer is most likely the Water Company's responsibility now, so you will need their permission to carry out any works near it or to it. Have a look on the respective company's website, there will probably be the information you need there. Example from Anglian Water here: https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/developers/build-over.aspx

 

[swebb99]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm not planning on starting any work on the extension until april next year so i suppose if i need to get the water company or building control involved i have plenty of time and the building plans i have drawn for the the extension work would include the planned pipework changes.