planning/building regs refurbishment

[qwertyuiop]

i have a loft space bathroom - it comes off of a bedroom (3 storey house)
house built in late 1900's. sometime either during the second world war or immediately afterwards the house was converted to flatlets. at the time this loft space was made into bathroom. when i bought house in 1979 the loft space bathroom had cast iron waste pipes, dodgy electrics (inc electric shower) and copper supply pipes. i have changed them all. now i am told by a friend i am not allowed to do this and should have left it as was. help please? any suggestions what i do?

 

[DAZB]

Did your friend say why you wasn't allowed to do this because I can't think of anything that says you can't ? All you seem to have done is replace old for new and there is no law against that.

 

[qwertyuiop]

according to him any work on drains needs building regs approval (i replaced cast iron with plastic) i also replaced old electric shower with new (and new wiring - properly done by electrician). my main worry is that all of this is on 4" x2" beams (as i say work done in 1940's)
can they make me remove the whole lot?

 

[ChrisR]

There seem to be the odd few million places which evolved like that. It's only when you go for "change of use", say by converting into new flats, that things really get bound up in rules.

 

[DAZB]

If you are worried give the Building Inspector a call. You don't have to give the address and tell them you just want some advice on the issues involved. I do a lot of Basement conversions and we have to apply for permission because we are doing a " change of use " and adding a toilet waste to the main stack but in your case you haven't done anything different to what was already there. At worst they may want to come out just to inspect it and see that you have done it correctly but I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[qwertyuiop]

thanks i've been rather worried about the whole thing. i worry that i will "open a can of worms"

 

[DAZB]

You don't mention if you live in the house or rent out the Flatlets but one thing I would add is that if you are renting the place out as Flatlets you will need to have an up to date Landlords Electrical Certificate which will confirm that the Shower was fitted correctly and covers you in case of any problems.

 

[brumylad]

I understand that the electrical certificate is currently voluntary and the only legal requirement for a landlord is a gas certificate.

 

[DAZB]

I suppose that depends on the Agent that handles the rental. The Agent I use to rent out my properties insists on having both certificates. It covers me from a legal point so I don't get sued if anything should happen and it also looks good from their side because it means that the property is up to spec and they can obviously fill it quicker.

 

[ollski]

Not a listed building is it?