Removal of interior wall

[Tasha12345]

Hi, Im really hoping someone can give me some pointers here.

So we had a "rogue" builder. He came in, did some work and left. The work was removal of an internal (load bearing) wall and some smaller jobs (replacement of window, moving a small non load bearing wall).

In terms of the load bearing wall, it was between the kitchen and dining room, padstones were placed in either side and an RSJ fitted. This was in Jan. The house hasn't fallen down so I feel like it is ok but I am not an expert.

The problem is he didn't sign the work off. Kept promising to send papers but never did. We are now wary about doing any more work in the house in case this is wrong.

Do I just get the building inspector in to see if its ok? Will they pay any attention to the other minor jobs? I guess Im worried that if one job is wrong, the others could be and I don't want to be told that I have to move out or something! Will they just look at what I ask them to?

I have read about private building inspectors v local authority - anyone had any experience in this?

Thank you so much in advance! At the very least we have learnt a valuable lesson here!

 

[^woody^]

You need it "regularised" by your council, not by a private inspector.

You tell them the work they will tell you what needs to be checked. There are structural and fire safety implications, as well as home insurance and sale time issues.

Then recoup any costs from the builder - via the small claims court if need be.

 

[tony1851]

The council won't instruct you to move out, but the regularization process will cost you. Councils vary, but for the work you mentioned (chiefly the load-bearing wall removal) our council would charge between £4-500 for the Regularization Cert. They may also ask you for structural calculations for the beam for which you will have to engage an SE - budget around £2-300 for that.
So think carefully before you jump in - you don't want to open an expensive can of worms.

 

[Tasha12345]

You need it "regularised" by your council, not by a private inspector.

You tell them the work they will tell you what needs to be checked. There are structural and fire safety implications, as well as home insurance and sale time issues.

Then recoup any costs from the builder - via the small claims court if need be.

Thank you for your help. I had thought about trying to claim costs back. Ultimately, they should have done the job properly in the first place.

So they will tell me over the phone what they will need to check? In terms of fire safety implications, we haven't yet had the beam boxed in. We were concerned about getting it checked first - is it likely to be a 2 stage process because of this? In terms of home insurance, I was honest with my insurance company in June when I renewed. Told them that we were having work done that hadn't been signed off yet however this obviously cannot continue year after year. It bumped the premium up however I would rather not take the chance!

Thanks again for taking the time to read

 

[^woody^]

The fire safety implications are the removal of the wall and creating an open room with a kitchen in it. In some situations, that impacts on fire safety and means of escape.

The insurance implications are not the having work done, but having a property with unauthorised work and thus potentially unsafe - which alters the insurance risk.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

But some good news- since you haven't boxed the rsj in it'll be easy for the building inspector to verify its condition and dimensions and that it has adequate bearing on the supporting walls. The inspector will also be able to easily see that the wall above is being properly supported (slate packers) and any timbers resting on it also have adequate bearing. Yes they'll probably want SE calcs (£250 odd as mentioned) & regularisation fee - seems to vary by authority that one.