Building over manhole covers

[millieh]

Hello,

I wondered if somebody could help please. We own an ex council house, built in late 1940s/early 1950s. I have attached a rough floor plan of the downstairs.

There are manhole covers under the garage and under the conservatory. My next door neighbour’s drain feeds into my conservatory drain, which feeds into the garage, which feeds into the drain in our front garden, which finally feeds into the main sewer.

The conservatory was built around early 1990 (long before the 2011 build over laws) and the garage, we expect, was built around the time the main part of the house was, as the roof is asbestos sheeting.
I expect that these two manholes/drains were once classed as private, but would almost certainly be public now after the 2011 build over legislation was introduced.

On our water searches, when we bought the house in 2020, it was stated that there were no public sewer pipes within the boundary of the house. Of course, there is though. I presume this is because they haven’t been captured/recognised properly by Welsh Water after 2011.

The manhole cover in the garage is perfectly accessible but you can’t access the one under the conservatory.

I have a few queries about this. Firstly, could Welsh Water make us tear up the floor on the conservatory if they needed to access the drain there for whatever reason?

Secondly. We’re planning on taking down the conservatory, and building a proper extension. We would push the wall of the extension further than the conservatory was, so that it’s in line with the garage and toilet. Could anybody see this being an issue? Would we need a build over agreement for this given that the existing structure (I.e the conservatory), already covered the manhole?

Any advice would be appreciated as relentless Googling hasn’t helped me much!

Thanks,

Millie

 

[SpecialK]

It only matters if another property drains in to that manhole/drain. If they are only your drains then the water company doesn't care as they don't have to pay to repair them if they fail.

 

[millieh]

It only matters if another property drains in to that manhole/drain. If they are only your drains then the water company doesn't care as they don't have to pay to repair them if they fail.

Sorry, wasn’t very clear in my post. My next door neighbour’s drain feeds into the conservatory drain, so I can almost certainly say that it would now be classed as public.

 

[jeds]

Firstly, could Welsh Water make us tear up the floor on the conservatory if they needed to access the drain there for whatever reason?

Secondly. We’re planning on taking down the conservatory, and building a proper extension. We would push the wall of the extension further than the conservatory was, so that it’s in line with the garage and toilet. Could anybody see this being an issue? Would we need a build over agreement for this given that the existing structure (I.e the conservatory), already covered the manhole?

Firstly; In theory they could, but drains can normally be repaired using alternative methods. But you may be asked to pay the additional costs?

Secondly; water authorities don't normally allow you to build over access chambers. It is possible they may do in this case as the access is already built over, but I doubt it, especially as a new buildover application.

 

[conny]

When the conservatory comes down, would it be possible to take the drain, (from the toilet I assume), outside the boundary of the new kitchen and then link it back up to the one in the garage?
It's a bit more work but better than falling foul of the law.