Building Regulations In 1989/91

[askyourgran]

I am selling our house. In 1989 when we moved into the house we had an archway built between the lounge and the kitchen to give more light, blocking up the original doorway to the lounge, this was done by a builder in 1989. About a year later we had the roof re-done, in fact I live in a terrace of four houses and the four houses were all re-roofed at the same time. The lady who instigated the re-roofing has since died and we have no paperwork to say that building regulations were complied with then. The buyers mortgage company are asking us to provide an indemnity insurance because there is no documents to support both these building works all those years ago. This indemnity business is a thriving trade we are blighted with this problem at the house we are buying. If I buy both it's going to cost me almost £300. The sellers in the house I want to buy say it's up to me to get one for the item at the house I want to buy.
Question is should we have had some sort of paperwork about the archway and the roof in 1989/90 and am I obliged to provide one after all this time?

[jackthehat]

I would have thought to reduce the risk of you losing the sale, you are responsible for purchasing the Indemnity Policy.
BUT I would say the same about the vendors of the house you are buying, too.

There may well have been no certificate issued, and if there was you may have no right to the Roofing one......

[askyourgran]

Thanks jack, the vendors are not interested in paying for anything towards the bunglow they have been pretty slack giving up to date maintenence reports for the gas/electric and seemingly not observed a covenant on the garden storage shed. We seem to be stuck between two stools, the solicitor is going to talk to our buyers about getting an indemnity of their own - as we are doing. Don't want to lose either sale. I have all the other papers they need except for the building work done in 1989, didn't know whether it was necessary then to have anything.

[jackthehat]

There really 'should' have been a Building Notice-type approval given for the archway, but these always came with caveats, in any case.

You could try ringing Building Control at your Local Council and see if they still have the records to hand for 1989. There may be a cost for a replacement certificate, but you would be able to establish whether there ever was one, and they might be able to answer your queries over the roof.

Good Luck!

[Zacs-Master]

Is the wall in which you had the archway made / door blocked up structural. Go knock on it. If it sounds hollow its probably non structural and wouldn't have needed building regs.

As for the roof, if it was a simple case of replacing the slates / tiles then again, you wouldn't have needed building regs. If they replaced the felt and any insulation (which i doubt you had) immediately below the tiles, then you may have needed building reg's. I think your solicitors are confused also.

[askyourgran]

Laptop is on the go-slow.
Thanks for your replies jack and Zacs. I hadn't thought about the Local Council,
but I'll discuss this with the solicitor. I can't remember who the companies were who did the work and if there had been any papers I would have kept them. Don't want to have to pay for the buyers and the sellers too, but it looks like I'm going to have to. Zacs I think the whole roof was replaced wth new felt etc. It still looks good. as for the archway it sounds a bit hollow it is a dviding wall between the lounge and kitchen.

[The Builder]

Lawyers, bless 'em, are way out of their depth with these kind of technicalities. They simply insist on covering themselves. Lack of Building Regs Approval can come back to bite solicitors.

As others have said, B Regs are not interested in re-covering roofs. Material alterations such as the introduction of breathable felt and/or roof ventilation technically can be classed as notifiable. In practice, this is taken as obvious, and I can't think of any re-roofing in my experience, that has had B Regs involved.

The archway could be relevant if it's a structural wall. A retrospective application is one way to go. Should be a formality after 25 years!

This kind of thing has to stop. The Indemnity Insurance Companies are onto a little goldmine with these. They love them since there is little or no risk involved for them.

[boxtops]

Don't you still have any of the paperwork at all from when you had the work done? I'm a bit obsessive about keeping paperwork, and I still have the detailed invoice from when I had walls taken out and an arch cut through between kitchen and dining area. That shows that the builders put in an RSJ to keep the house from collapsing, as it was a main wall in the middle of the house. Is that the sort of thing which you're looking for?

[buildersmate]

The cost of a retrospective application for a small structural alteration of that nature is £210. I know this because I have just been involved a similar such situation and the rates are set nationally. At least they are in England & Wales, not sure about other provinces. In addition, Building Control may require a simple structural calc. to be done.
That one way to do it.

[askyourgran]

Normally I have the paperwork for everything done new doors windows etc, but nothing for the archway. The house was almost empty when we bought it no kitchen furniture only a sink. So we had most of the work done to the archway and kitchen fitting while we were out working. Neither of us can recall the builder who did the work or what he gave us as proof of building Regulations. TBH I never thought of anything that was needed. The Indemnity insurance will be a far sight cheaper than retrospective planning permission so I think we'll go for that. Just hope the Vendor of the bungalow would do the same for the one I need there. Thanks everyone for your help.