No insulation in my loft conversion

[sophia123]

Hi there,

I bought a house which used to be a bungalow but has had the roof raised to create 3 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

The master bedroom seem freezing (you can see your breath in there) so I got a builder to have a look under the plasterboard ceiling and it seems there is no insulation in there!!!

The extension was done in 2000 and we bought the house in 2008.

The builder said we should contact building control to see what was completed and signed off.

My question is if it turns out that building control have signed off the build and the insulation was not done, can we get some sort of monies from them to help with the work. Surely someone is liable/ negligent here???!!

Thanks,


Worried and freezing Catherine!

 

[big-all]

money for what??
compensation i would say nil chance
get the fee back you paid perhaps except it was before your time

 

[JohnD]

When you bought the house, and your solicitor asked for evidence that the conversion had Planning Permission and Buildings Control approval, what did he get?

Does the conversion have a staircase?

 

[sophia123]

Hi,

yes I would imagine the solicitor would have checked all building regs, planning permissions were in order.

Yes it does have a stair case.

Just wondering what is the point in building control then if they pass work not done? surely there is a contract ?

 

[garyo]

I think what JohnD is getting at is that it might not have BC sign off, or perhaps PP, and that you should think carefully about what you say to building control before establishing that you do indeed have sign off.

Gary

 

[^woody^]

There is a precedent [English] court case which decided that the council's building control people were not responsible for any failure to do their job.

As you are in Scotland, get some legal advice on the situation there

 

[JohnD]

I would imagine the solicitor would have checked

you need to do more than imagine. Have a look at your copies of the papers from the purchase.

 

[sophia123]

thanks.. will speak with building control and solicitor in the morning.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

2008? You'll not get anywhere asking your solicitor, or with Building Control for that matter, you may as well just concentrate on getting it insulated and checking what else wasn't done right.

 

[jagillham]

There is a precedent [English] court case which decided that the council's building control people were not responsible for any failure to do their job.

As you are in Scotland, get some legal advice on the situation there

Our local building control added support to the remainder of the chimney stack in our loft free of charge. The previous owner had the chimney breasts removed & signed off in 2006. In 2011 we called them as looked like it was moving. They came and put in huge gallow brackets and supports, saying what was there before never should have been OK'd.

Might be worth an ask, but maybe our one was more worried about possibly being sued if it collapsed. Council might be less concerned if you cold!