New cloakroom completed - retrospective BR advice please

[KnightWhoSaysNi]

I've recently had a small cloakroom (toilet + washbasin) built in the downstairs lounge.

It has 2 supply pipes (cold and hot water) going into it from the kitchen under the kitchen and lounge floor, and a waste pipe (from the toilet and washbasin) which comes out of it through the external wall and connects to the sewage pipe.

I didn't know I needed building regs approval so I didn't apply for it. Later on I was applying for a top-up mortgage to finance further refurbishment work and the bank sent a surveyor to value the house. The surveyor asked me about the cloakroom and told me it needed BR and not having it would knock off some of its value. He specifically mentioned the waste pipe, which he said needed to be connected in a certain way, slope at a certain angle etc.

Now I'm wondering what's the best way to proceed. Is it a good idea to regularise it and what would need to be opened up if I went that route? Which elements of the work are subject to BR - is it only the waste pipe or also the supply pipes that go under the floor? What about the electric wiring? My builders are Eastern European and while they know their stuff, they don't have the legal power to issue any certificates, not that I know anyway.

If I don't regularise it and don't sell the house within X years (I expect to stay here for at least 7 years, possibly much longer) would not having a BR certificate be a problem at all?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Nakajo]

That must be very awkward when you have guests.

 

[tony1851]

You can apply for a regularization cert. but it can be expensive (our council charges 250% of the normal application fee). You may also have to open up some existing work so that it can be checked if necessary (more expense).

But why bother? Legally there's nothing the council can do after 12 months. Future buyers may - or may not - be put off by the lack of a certificate, but trawl through this site and you will see that many houses are bought and sold without certs. for unauthorized building work. Will it reduce the value............? The lack of a cert. might be less important than the access to the wc - is it direct from the lounge(!) or perhaps from a hallway?

If your outlet has a decent fall to the S&VP, and is not too far away, and you have a fan if there is no window for ventilation, it would probably comply, and perhaps little to uncover to show the inspector.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNi]

I'm planning on using the lounge as a bedroom, which will make it an en-suite cloakroom. (Later on, when I have more funds, I'd like to build a conservatory, which would become the new lounge / living room).

I don't have any documents to prove when the work was completed, so I'm not sure how the 12 months rule would be applied? There was no written contract.

I do have an extractor fan (no window). The sewage pipe is roughly 3 metres long.

I understand the council has the old floor plans are if / when I come to sell the house, the surveyor will compare them to the actual state at the time of the sale, which is how it will be found out that it was me who made the alteration and didn't get the certs required?

I'm starting a loft conversion soon and that will be with building regs. I'm thinking when the (private) building control officer comes to sign off the different stages of the work, I can ask him about the cloakroom. Just wondering if that would be a 'safe' thing to do, i.e. is there a risk I might end up being fined or asked to undo the work or regularize it?