Retrospective approval for re-roof.

[nicknickmm]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone had any advice about applying for regularisation for a re-roof. Long story short, bought a house, spoke to a lot of roofers to redo roof, it was a busy and stressful time and I didn't know I would need Building Regs approval and none of the roofers mentioned it, including the one I instructed. Now, after a family emergency, which means we need to move abroad I started to look at what we need to do to sell the house and found out that I should've applied prior to the works. Gutted and angry. Roof was done in Febuary.

We are probably going to lose money on the house due to buying in'22 and selling in'24 and this is just something that's making me incredibly anxious. Especially uprooting a family, visas etc.

Now, I 100% would like to go for retrospective approval but I want to know how intrusive it's likely to be and also not sure how much additional work will be needed to get it up to approval standards. Roof comes with a 15 year guarantee and the roofers seem good and do so much work around the area, sponsor events etc but they're not really giving me much back when I ask them questions. When i called him he said "it'll be fine" and to apply but I just don't fully trust him. I want to be pretty certain it will be fine before I go ahead and do it. I will be in a bit of a bind if we have big delays with selling the house as got so much to arrange abroad.

House is approx 110 yo and semi detached. Work was essentially re-tile and and new breathable felt.

Main concerns are:
- It was a slate roof and now has concrete tiles. But no mention of load bearing. Roofer says it'll be absolutely fine but he hasn't mentioned any calcs etc.
- The back bedroom roof is a lower pitch and you can't see it from the loft so not sure what the inspector would do here if wanted to check insulation and timbers etc.

I'm thinking of arranging a structural engineer to do the calcs then see, if that is fine I would more than likely just offer indemnity (and an explanation), as don't want to open up a can of worms with building regs needing access to the lower pitched roof void. But I am worried the SE will find issues and not sure where I stand if that's the case and not sure if they can complete the survey without being able to look at the back roof void either!

Any advice appreciated.
A very anxious soul.

 

[blup]

Think the regs are aimed more at suitable insulation.

 

[noseall]

Think the regs are aimed more at suitable insulation.

And pitch v's (suitable) tiles. And additional weight v's structure.

 

[noseall]

A very anxious soul.

Insulate the loft, then get it regularised. As long as the tiles are suitable for the pitch and there is no visible signs of distress to the roof - an inspector will sign it off.
Regardless, you will likely sell without the sign off.

 

[noseall]

I didn't know I would need Building Regs approval

Did the subject of BC approval not come up when you were buying the house, by your conveyancing solicitors? BC approval is hardly a secret these days (internet chatter) and is the responsibility of the homeowner.

 

[Notch7]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone had any advice about applying for regularisation for a re-roof. Long story short, bought a house, spoke to a lot of roofers to redo roof, it was a busy and stressful time and I didn't know I would need Building Regs approval and none of the roofers mentioned it, including the one I instructed. Now, after a family emergency, which means we need to move abroad I started to look at what we need to do to sell the house and found out that I should've applied prior to the works. Gutted and angry. Roof was done in Febuary.

We are probably going to lose money on the house due to buying in'22 and selling in'24 and this is just something that's making me incredibly anxious. Especially uprooting a family, visas etc.

Now, I 100% would like to go for retrospective approval but I want to know how intrusive it's likely to be and also not sure how much additional work will be needed to get it up to approval standards. Roof comes with a 15 year guarantee and the roofers seem good and do so much work around the area, sponsor events etc but they're not really giving me much back when I ask them questions. When i called him he said "it'll be fine" and to apply but I just don't fully trust him. I want to be pretty certain it will be fine before I go ahead and do it. I will be in a bit of a bind if we have big delays with selling the house as got so much to arrange abroad.

House is approx 110 yo and semi detached. Work was essentially re-tile and and new breathable felt.

Main concerns are:
- It was a slate roof and now has concrete tiles. But no mention of load bearing. Roofer says it'll be absolutely fine but he hasn't mentioned any calcs etc.
- The back bedroom roof is a lower pitch and you can't see it from the loft so not sure what the inspector would do here if wanted to check insulation and timbers etc.

I'm thinking of arranging a structural engineer to do the calcs then see, if that is fine I would more than likely just offer indemnity (and an explanation), as don't want to open up a can of worms with building regs needing access to the lower pitched roof void. But I am worried the SE will find issues and not sure where I stand if that's the case and not sure if they can complete the survey without being able to look at the back roof void either!

Any advice appreciated.
A very anxious soul.

Assuming it is a cold loft space with insulation at ceiling level not rafter level, you might just need to increase insulation of the floor in the loft.

If you had a reputable firm do it, they are most likely to have done it correctly….although the fact they didn’t tell you it needed building regs, is rather disappointing - sadly tradesmen are more interested in practical work than admin, so not necessarily an indication of being deliberately misleading

 

[blup]

House is approx 110 yo and semi detached. Work was essentially re-tile and and new breathable felt.

Post some pics of the inside of the roof space showing the purlins and struts, and before and after of the tiles.

 

[^woody^]

The replacement of roof tiles and membrane is not itself controlled works under building regulations, but it's merely a repair.

The application for regularisation is under Part L1b, which is specifically related to insulation.

So for regularisation, the checks will be for improvement of insulation to the standard that existed when the works were done. Yes, the inspector will have a cursory glance up at the roof while walking up the path, but that's merely to see that there are actually tiles on the roof and not that they are correctly fitted. He won't be interested in the roof timbers either.

 

[johnny2007]

Exactly as woody said.
You won't have any problem selling the house because of a new roof.

 

[nicknickmm]

And pitch v's (suitable) tiles. And additional weight v's structure.

I think the lower pitched part is at around 21deg and used Marley Modern tiles which can be used down to 17.5deg so I think that's fine.

Insulate the loft, then get it regularised. As long as the tiles are suitable for the pitch and there is no visible signs of distress to the roof - an inspector will sign it off.
Regardless, you will likely sell without the sign off.

Yes looks pretty solid really, just had some condensation issues but I think it was die to the extra insulation blocking airflow, which I have patted down and added to felt lap vents and seem good now but will wait for the next cold spell.

One of my main concerns is that the inspector won't be able to see the roof void above the back bedroom as it's not clearly visible from the loft.

Did the subject of BC approval not come up when you were buying the house, by your conveyancing solicitors? BC approval is hardly a secret these days (internet chatter) and is the responsibility of the homeowner.

No it was never mentioned, they were really poor. I said to the surveyor that we planned on extending at some point and they noted about PP and BC but it was only in relation to the extension.

 

[nicknickmm]

Assuming it is a cold loft space with insulation at ceiling level not rafter level, you might just need to increase insulation of the floor in the loft.

If you had a reputable firm do it, they are most likely to have done it correctly….although the fact they didn’t tell you it needed building regs, is rather disappointing - sadly tradesmen are more interested in practical work than admin, so not necessarily an indication of being deliberately misleading

Yes its a cold loft. The moved the insulation that was at rafter level and put it above the existing ceiling level insulation. Although it's partly boarded so i will probably need to raise the boards and add another layer. I'm sure i can't just put it on top of the boards

Yeah I think that's partly why I'm (hopefully) overly worried is I didn't fully trust the guy once the work was started. He has been very contactable and fixed an issue with a flat bay window roof they also replaced (the scaffolding knocked it and he fully replaced it for free). I think he just doesn't want the possible delays of involving BC. They are constantly booked up (currently booked up until April).

 

[nicknickmm]

The replacement of roof tiles and membrane is not itself controlled works under building regulations, but it's merely a repair.

The application for regularisation is under Part L1b, which is specifically related to insulation.

So for regularisation, the checks will be for improvement of insulation to the standard that existed when the works were done. Yes, the inspector will have a cursory glance up at the roof while walking up the path, but that's merely to see that there are actually tiles on the roof and not that they are correctly fitted. He won't be interested in the roof timbers either.

I see, I thought I had read it was mainly insulation related but also has to pass some additional check's when not replacing like-for-like.

 

[^woody^]

The rafters that held a slate roof with hold a tiled roof.

 

[nicknickmm]

Post some pics of the inside of the roof space showing the purlins and struts, and before and after of the tiles.

I don't have any better pics of the loft space at the moment but I hope this suffices.

Top insulation is full of dust and lime torching. Insulation was blocking air flow from eves so that has been padded down.

 

[nicknickmm]

The rafters that held a slate roof with hold a tiled roof.

Thanks Woody, that's very reassuring. Seems like i have been over worrying, but feeling very stressed out about losing lots of money on the house and then moving my family abroad!