For a large project circa £150k+, would you go with private Building inspectors or council ones (extension and major internal works)?
Private building regs v council buildings regs
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Private, because you have a choice of who to work with, you can interview them ahead of giving them the job and have a reasonable idea of what their appetite for developing solutions vs developing problems actually is..
Assess carefully their experience wih your kind of job though. I picked the wrong private guy for my 400k job but thankfully the council let me change to another. Actually, that's not correct.. I picked the approved inspector company and dealt wih the guy there that I wanted, paid the fee and then they sent someone else who was initially great but then started making things a tad hard work and his boss (the guy I wanted) didn't really have any choice but to back him up. So, if you do find a guy you want, specify that you do actually get him and no alternate once the bill is paid
Unless you know who on the council you'll be assigned and how easy they are to work with. Council are generally cheaper, to the extent of a drop in the ocean of 150k, but every little helps.
Assess carefully their experience wih your kind of job though. I picked the wrong private guy for my 400k job but thankfully the council let me change to another. Actually, that's not correct.. I picked the approved inspector company and dealt wih the guy there that I wanted, paid the fee and then they sent someone else who was initially great but then started making things a tad hard work and his boss (the guy I wanted) didn't really have any choice but to back him up. So, if you do find a guy you want, specify that you do actually get him and no alternate once the bill is paid
Unless you know who on the council you'll be assigned and how easy they are to work with. Council are generally cheaper, to the extent of a drop in the ocean of 150k, but every little helps.
Working from the design side, I find Council Building Control a waste of time.
Some of the younger inspectors spend time crawling over drawings determined to find some points they can highlight, to impress their line manager. This adds nothing of value to the project.
And on site, you often get different inspectors, invariably with differing views of what's right and wrong. And too often they fit appointments to suit themselves, rather than the cient/builder. Remember that they are in the public sector and always expect deference from us ordinary mortals.
Private every time.
Some of the younger inspectors spend time crawling over drawings determined to find some points they can highlight, to impress their line manager. This adds nothing of value to the project.
And on site, you often get different inspectors, invariably with differing views of what's right and wrong. And too often they fit appointments to suit themselves, rather than the cient/builder. Remember that they are in the public sector and always expect deference from us ordinary mortals.
Private every time.
LA every time for me, the flybys above must rub the LA up the wrong way as I get all of the wonderful service from our LA's that these guys can't seem to get.
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I'm with Freddy. Some BC inspectors are better than others. One in particular is very thorough and I ask for him in person.
It is true to say however that they won't leave their office until tea and biscuits has finished i.e. the earliest you'll get to see one is aboot 11:30 a.m.
It is true to say however that they won't leave their office until tea and biscuits has finished i.e. the earliest you'll get to see one is aboot 11:30 a.m.
My council building inspectors have been good. Offered advice and been very knowledgeable about things like soil conditions. Next doors builder used private and got away with some shonky work. I can see how this might be convenient for the builder but not great for the home owner.
Spot on.
I've seen some really shoddy work passed by LABC. As Tony said, a junior member of staff marking up every little detail with a red pen so the a perfect set of approved drawings go on file, but when it comes to site visits, the drawings get almost completely ignored - For example, a cavity wall as drawn built with foundation blocks and signed off by building inspector (with no insulation whatsoever), sink waste running into soakaway, signed off. I could go on...
Thanks.
The cost differential is only £150 or so between the two (private slightly more). I've been quoted circa £1,200 +vat for about 12 site visits and verification of calculations and designs. My project cost is actually more than £150k, just used that as a base number.
After the problems I have had with the council on the planning side (lost a year), I dont want to risk anything with the council again. That said, when I bought my house, I needed something checked with respect to a building certificate, and the main guy at the building control dept was actually very good and friendly....unfortunately his pals in the planning dept have really left me with a bad impression of them.
The cost differential is only £150 or so between the two (private slightly more). I've been quoted circa £1,200 +vat for about 12 site visits and verification of calculations and designs. My project cost is actually more than £150k, just used that as a base number.
After the problems I have had with the council on the planning side (lost a year), I dont want to risk anything with the council again. That said, when I bought my house, I needed something checked with respect to a building certificate, and the main guy at the building control dept was actually very good and friendly....unfortunately his pals in the planning dept have really left me with a bad impression of them.
You have to remember that, even though there may only be a partition separating the two departments, they seldom communicate with each other.
My architect told me differently. He said that he was working on a project a few months ago where the BUilding Inspector queried why the extension was larger than the plans by about 50cm and the planning dept enforcement officer had to investigate.
Told me it caused all sorts of problems even though his Extension was below the max PD allowance under the temp rules.
Told me it caused all sorts of problems even though his Extension was below the max PD allowance under the temp rules.
50cm is not an oversight it's blatantly making the extension bigger though. And under the new temporary rules you have to stick to what you're said you were gonna build or the permission you're building under becomes invalid. It cannot be applied retrospectively. Sounds like the architect doesn't fully understand the new rules.
You missed the point entirely. It has nothing to do with the architect, the builder went over the limit i.e. 4.5m instead of 4m, even though he could have gone for HPD and got 8m. Because the build had already started he wasn't later allowed to apply for HPD.
In any case, the point here is that the building inspector from the council informed the planning dept even though it shouldn't have been any of his business as he was BC.
In any case, the point here is that the building inspector from the council informed the planning dept even though it shouldn't have been any of his business as he was BC.
No I didn't miss the point at all. Maybe my other post was poorly written, it's rare for planning and Building Control to speak, but if the'oversight' is 50cm it's hardly surprising. Why is it none of their business? They're under no obligation to not speak to planning. You only have to stick around here for a bit to see that they rarely speak to each other. Again your post come from a defensive angle like most on here who favour private, I still really see why some favour private if they're gonna do a good job .... Sounds like your architects another one who gets in a pickle on site.
My post is not meant to come across as defensive - I'm just stating the fact of what he told me about another project where he said this was the first instance he has come across of where the two depts have talked to each other. He was done with the project once the plans were approved but then asked to get involved again with seeking retrospective pp.
Off topic, but from your experience what would typically be considered an acceptable oversight by the council - a few multimeters or even say 10cm?
Off topic, but from your experience what would typically be considered an acceptable oversight by the council - a few multimeters or even say 10cm?
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