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Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory? (Read 5909 times)
Gammy_leg
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Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Jan 14th, 2016, 10:05pm
 
Hi,

I am in the process of selling my house which has a conservatory attached to the back. This was put up by the previous owner around about 2001 - 2002.
My buyer's solicitor has requested further information regarding the conservatory which is a selection of yes/no questions. If all answers are 'Yes' then no problem, if some are answered 'No', then they state that Building Regs Approval is needed.
I answered 'No' to two questions which are:

Q. Is the roof translucent, polycarbonate or glass?
A. No, it's timber with shingle effect bituminous sheeting on top.

Q. Does glazing satisfy the requirements of Part N Schedule 1 ( toughened safety glass )?
A. No, just bog standard single glazed.

What is the deal with this? Will I have to make alterations to roof & windows & get Building Regs approval before being able sell the house or are they just  trying to justifying extra costs to their client by asking lots of additional un-necessary questions?

I don't recall any of this aggro when I bought the place circa 2005.

Thanks in advance.
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woodsmith
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #1 - Jan 15th, 2016, 8:53am
 
Hi, I'm not a planning expert and perhaps C Waters will post later as he knows far more about this than I, but I can tell you that this building is not a conservatory! A conservatory, which would probably not need planning permission, has to have a clear (polycarbonate or glass) roof. With a timber roof you have a garden room which needed planning consent and building regs approval.
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thescruff
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #2 - Jan 15th, 2016, 8:56am
 
When they did the survey they should have noted the roof construction/materials including the glass  Roll Eyes

Not in the trade anymore but don't think you need building regs approval.

Did it have planning etc when it was built to your knowledge ?
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Gammy_leg
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #3 - Jan 15th, 2016, 10:26pm
 
Thanks to Woodsmith and Thescuff for replies.

If I can answer each individually..

Woodsmith - I see your point as regards when is a conservatory not a conservatory?...when it's a Garden room. I suppose there has to be a distinction between the two and a solid roof rather than polycarbonate makes sense. As for the requirement for planning consent, again, most likely was needed when it was built but suspect it was never sought. However, since it has been insitu for the best part of 14 years I don't think that this can be enforced retrospectively.

Thescruff - You would have thought that the survey made mention of the timber roof but maybe they didn't make a fuss over it's significance perhaps based on it's age ( see above comment to Woodsmith )

Since my original post I have received yet another letter from my solicitor requesting even more information about the property ( with an apology about the piecemeal nature of all these additional questions ) This time, rather than retyping them on their own stationary, they have forwarded the queries in their original form from the buyers solicitor who have done the same and I now have the full list as typed by the buyers themselves. Jeez, what a pair!! I'm amazed that they've bothered hiring a solicitor at all judging by the level of detail that they've gone into and the piddling information requested.

Examples:

"Basic fittings mentions burglar alarm" an unexpected bonus you might think, but no, it goes on "we were unaware of this and require information on where it is, whether it has been serviced and any access codes that have been set and instruction for use"

"Confirmation that both outside sheds will be emptied as, for example, one shed contains a chest freezer"

I could go on, but I won't. I now believe that the Yes/No list for the conservatory was put together by the buyers rather than their solicitor.

Gammy.



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Lectrician
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #4 - Jan 16th, 2016, 7:56am
 
When I bought my last house, the owners were emigrating and left soooooo much stuff, including furniture.  They had tried to sell stuff (we saw the adverts).  We had to give loads of stuff away and take several trips to the tip!

Doesn't help I know, but nice to know you're moving to an empty house!

Are the new buyers retired by any chance?   Tongue
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woodsmith
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #5 - Jan 16th, 2016, 8:56am
 
As its a garden room it would have definitely needed planning and building consent when it was built but, as its been up so long, the Council are unlikely to bother unless it's a listed building. However that doesn't stop potential purchasers and their solicitors from getting hot and bothered over it.

I assume there is an external door between this room and the rest of the house, with with proper external locks. If is, its all down to to a name, if you call it a lean to potting shed then it doesn't matter what it's made of.
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Gammy_leg
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #6 - Jan 16th, 2016, 2:40pm
 
There was never any mention of planning permission when we bought the house, and as far as I know, it's absence didn't seem to concern our solicitor. I expect it didn't interest our buyers solicitor either until the buyers did a bit of digging about on the internet.

They have also asked for gas boiler service reports, boiler safety certificates and electrical inspection certs in such a way as to imply that I'm obliged to provide them as a condition of the sale.
They have also approached the local planning department to enquire about next door's extension. Again, them, not their solicitor.

Thankfully I'm in a position where I don't need to sell, so if it all goes pear-shaped I won't be losing any sleep over it.
I have a sneaky feeling that they are going to let this go down to the wire and at the last minute ask for a reduction in the sale price to deal with all the issues that they've dredged up. They will be, I'm afraid, disappointed as well as homeless.
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #7 - Jan 16th, 2016, 5:52pm
 
You are lucky of you don't need to sell plus think about your neighbours, would you want to live next door to them Grin
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #8 - Jan 17th, 2016, 4:08pm
 
Sorry, gammy leg, but stop whingeing.  Most of those requests for information are perfectly normal and reasonable when buying a house.  If you didn't ask for this information when you bought the house then you should have done.  If I was buying a place that had a burglar alarm then of course I'd want to know the bloody access code.

With regard to things like building regs sign off, planning permission etc then your own solicitor should have picked up on these when you purchased your place.  If they didn't and it goes pear-=shaped then you have a case for negligence against them.   If it is the same solicitor that you are currently using to sell your place then tell them to answer the questions themselves as far as building regs etc are concerned.
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #9 - Feb 14th, 2016, 8:17pm
 
Bit late to this thread but...

Quote:
If all answers are 'Yes' then no problem, if some are answered 'No', then they state that Building Regs Approval is needed.


That's not quite correct.

You always have to comply with the Building Regulations BUT it's not always necessary to make a Building Control Application.

I can't tell from the info provided if an application should have been made when it was built.

Is it more than 15sqm? More than 30 sqm?
Heated?
Exterior grade door between it and the house?

In your case...

Quote:
Q. Does glazing satisfy the requirements of Part N Schedule 1 ( toughened safety glass )?
A. No, just bog standard single glazed.


..it appears the conservatory does not comply with the Building Regulations as they require safety glass in certain locations. So if you did make an application it might well fail.

However I wouldn't bother to do anything. You could try telling the buyer that you took the lack of building control approval into account when you set the asking price but that might not wash unless you mentioned it when they were looking around. The buyer is also free to decide that they assumed it had Building Control Approval when they made their offer. So it's up to you both to negotiate the selling price. It's like buying a 2nd hand car the price you agree usually takes into account the MOT and any service history.

It's possible the buyer or their solicitor will also ask you to take out a single premium insurance policy to cover them should Building Control turn up and demand Building Control Approval be obtained. Google suggests these policies cost between £30 and £1000 but I've never had to buy one so I don't know if they can be really that cheap.

PS It's probably too late for the planners to demand you apply for planning permission. They usually have 4 years to do that (or 10 years if there has been a "change of use" or breech of a planning condition in the permission for the original house).
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Gammy_leg
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Re: Building Regs Approval on Existing Conservatory?
Reply #10 - Aug 9th, 2016, 4:03pm
 
Thanks for all the responses.

Update:  

House was finally sold in Feb with no further haggling except for the need to purchase Building Regulation indemnity insurance for the conservatory as CW mentioned above. £130 well spent to shut them up.
I did expect the worst when the buyers requested a final inspection the day before completion, however nothing seemed to come to light that concerned them.

Gammy
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