Specifying Minor Works

Patrick Reddin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781138144958
• eBook ISBN: 9781136451379
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Construction & Architectural Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Efficient maintenance of a property requires a reliable assessment for defects or inadequacies and a systematic method for dealing with them. This book provides the information you'll need for both.

Throughout the specification process, all manner of issues face the surveyor, property manager or building engineer, from describing common defects to addressing energy efficiency and carbon emissions. In addition to these tasks the book also deals with:

• Prioritising works
• The practicalities of specification
• Building control

Helping you navigate bureaucracy as well as tackling the practical challenges safely and effectively, this is a crucial guide for building engineers, surveyors, contractors and property managers.

1 Statutory control

This chapter will review some of the aspects associated with ‘statutory control’, which in essence is the legislation that covers the construction of building work within the UK. When dwellings are being constructed, extended or altered it is important to know that consent from the various statutory authorities may need to be obtained. Such consent will be discussed further within this chapter, where we shall expand on the various processes that are required prior to commencement of work.

We will primarily feature ‘planning consent’ from the planning authority and ‘Building Regulations consent’ from a Building Control Body. We will also cover aspects of environmental health, highways and water authority consent. Guidance about the Party Wall, etc. Act 1996 is given in Chapter 4.

What is planning?

So what exactly is ‘planning consent’ I hear you ask and ‘why do we need it?’ In essence, ‘planning legislation’ exists to protect amenities and the environment for the public interest and not the individual person’s preference. The legislation is implemented by the local authorities to ensure that the type of development proposed is appropriate for the area concerned, while ensuring that the character and the amenities of the area are not adversely affected by the proposals or changes in the use of existing buildings or land.

The planning authority prevents buildings and new uses that would be harmful to the public interest. Without it, homeowners could build extensions that block out all of their neighbours’ light for example, or new buildings could, for instance, cause dangerous traffic conditions by blocking the ‘line of sight’ along a road.

Planning has a positive effect on the local environment, coordinating the development of homes and places of work. Planning ensures that these are accessible and built in the right places in the right way.

What are the Building Regulations (otherwise known as Building Control)?

So if that is ‘planning’, what is the purpose of Building Regulations? Some consider Building Regulations as rules that provide a detailed system of quality control at all stages of building work. Historically, arising as a result of poor housing conditions, the regulations have been regarded as a cornerstone in maintaining the general standards of public health. There is case law, which refers to previous judgments from the courts, to support this statement from Anns vs. Merton London Borough Council in 1978, where the judge stated:

the purpose of the Regulations is to provide for the health and safety of owners and occupiers of buildings, including dwelling houses, by setting standards to be complied with in construction and by enabling local authorities to supervise and control the operations of builders.

This view was later incorporated within the Building Act 1984 where Section 1 stated that the Building Regulations are minimum standards lay down by Parliament to secure the ‘health and safety, welfare and convenience of persons in or about buildings and of others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings’. This section goes on to state that the Building Regulations are also there ‘furthering the conservation of fuel and power’ and ‘preventing waste, undue consumption, misuse or contamination of water’.

Building Regulations are created by the Secretary of State as a vehicle to enable compliance with the Building Act 1984. Within the Act, Schedule 1 lists all of the Building Regulations and in England and Wales these are supported by guidance documents called ‘Approved Documents’. In Scotland these are known as ‘Technical Handbooks’ and within Northern Ireland they are known as ‘Technical Booklets’.

No matter where you are within the UK, almost every new building or structural change to an existing building will require Building Regulation approval. Anyone wishing to construct or alter a building must apply to a Building Control Body – either the local authority or an Approved Inspector – for Building Regulations approval.

What are Building Control Bodies?

You are probably thinking, ‘What’s an Approved Inspector?’ Like the local authority, which employs Building Control surveyors, Approved Inspectors are companies within the private sector which are registered, insured and licensed to act by the Construction Industry Council and which also employ Building Control surveyors. Details can be found on the Construction Industry Council’s website www.cic.org.uk. Approved Inspectors undertake the same role as local authority Building Control surveyors and will make an assessment of the plans and carry out site inspections to ensure the construction scheme complies with the Building Regulations.

Apart from one working within the private sector and the other within the public sector, there are other differences between the two, the main one being that an Approved Inspector is not confined to operating within a defined geographical area. An Approved Inspector can work anywhere within England and Wales but, currently, they are not registered to work in Scotland or Northern Ireland. They have the ability to work overseas, offering a ‘compliance assessment’ of a scheme which may be designed using UK standards/legislation and where the client seeks reassurance that the design team’s approach would be acceptable if the same scheme was built within the UK. It is known that some Approved Inspectors offer other services or are part of a multi-discipline organisation that undertakes additional tasks like Fire Risk Assessments, Fire Safety Surveys and access consultancy audits, for example.

On their side, the Local Authority Building Control Service (LABC) has introduced a ‘Partnership Arrangement Scheme’ where an architect/agent can approach their local authority Building Control department to assess a scheme under the Building Regulations, even though it may not be within their borough. The partnership arrangement comes into play when the work is inspected by the local authority where the work is being carried out. Local authorities also offer other services which can be viewed on the LABC website.

What about enforcement?

‘What will happen if construction work is undertaken without consent?’ Unauthorised work can result in harsh penalties against both the contractor and the owner of the property. This could take the form of a fine or worse – removal of the offending work.

The tell-tale signs which can give it all away include: skips full of building waste outside a property, building materials on the road or pavement, scaffolding outside the house and potential complaints from aggrieved neighbours to the local authority. It only takes a phone call to the local authority Building Control surveyor or planning officer. Alternatively, either one of them could simply drive past the site and notice that unauthorised works are being undertaken.

Building Control contravention

If unauthorised works are discovered, the following actions may take place. Under the Building Act 1984, Section 35, local authority Building Control surveyors can take legal action through a magistrates’ court against the contractor for not notifying them of any one or all of the offenses – from the commencement of work, undertaking foundation work, to covering over newly installed drainage, covering the oversite, and completing any building work which results in occupation of the building. Each offence, if proved, carries a fine. There is a further daily penalty if the contravention remains or the default continues after conviction. This course of action has a shelve life of 6 months.

Action against the owner could take the form of a notice issued by the magistrates’ court under Section 36 of the Building Act 1984. This route of action gives the owners 28 days to either remove or alter the offending work. Failure to comply would result in the local authority undertaking the work in default, charging the owner in order to recover its costs. The notice needs to be issued to the owner within 12 months of the completion of the work. Where works have been carried out following plans which has been approved by the local authority, this route of action cannot be taken – even if the plans showed a contravention against the Building Regulations.

This only refers to local authority Building Control and not to Approved Inspectors. This is because within Section 91(2) of the Building Act 1984 it states that ‘It is the function of local authorities to enforce building regulations in their areas’.

When Approved Inspectors consider that the proposed building work appears not to comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations they may decide not to issue their final certificate and are within their rights to cancel their initial notice and notify the local authority where the work is being undertaken. As a result, the function of Building Control will automatically transfer to the local authority, which will use its enforcement powers to require the work to be altered or removed.

Dangerous structures

A building can create a dangerous situation in a number of ways. A building can suffer from an ‘ageing process’ and lack of maintenance, which could result in aspects of the structure falling into disrepair and dilapidation. An example of this might be when roof tiles are missing from a pitched roof and over a period of time the timber rafters become exposed to the elements, leading to wet rot and, as a result, lose their structural capacity to bear a load, resulting in the collapse of the roof structure. A building can also become dangerous as a direct result of a fire, or storm damage, as well as a vehicle colliding with the building or an explosion within the building, caused by a gas leak for example.

Dangerous structures can also be created by those who undertake construction work who are unskilled in the task that they are doing, who are not being overseen by a competent person, or who are following design specifications, details or drawings that are incorrect or inappropriate to the scheme. No one wants to build a dangerous structure, but sometimes the lack of knowledge and experience of those who undertake construction projects results in potentially dangerous structures being created – if it wasn’t for Building Control surveyors who regularly inspect building projects and offer guidance and sometimes strongly worded advice, I’m sure the death and injury rates within the construction industry, as well as those who live within the buildings created or altered, would be much higher.

Internal structural works like those mentioned below tend to carry the highest risk of creating a dangerous structure. This usually occurs when the work is not undertaken correctly or the guidance from professional people is not followed.

Chimney breast removal

Not all chimney breasts on a party wall (refer to Chapter 4 for work undertaken to a party wall) can be removed. In some houses it is possible that the projection of the breast from the wall on the ground floor is different to the breast on the first floor. Some houses tend to have a projection of 100 mm on the first floor and 250 mm on the ground floor. Where this condition arises, the flues of the chimney are within the party wall and if you were to remove your chimney breast, it is possible that you will expose and damage your neighbour’s flue. This becomes a really vital issue if they are using their chimney for a gas fire, since the fumes from the appliance could enter into the neighbouring property. In addition, the removal of the breast might also reduce the fire resistance between the two properties. For more guidance you should refer to Approved Document J. If you did want to remove a chimney breast then one on an external wall rather than a party wall would be more easily accomplished. In addition, those where the projection is greater than 250 mm on the ground floor and similar size on the first floor would be feasible, subject to a full survey being undertaken. In these circumstances it is important to remove the hearth when the ground floor breast is being removed and make good the void in the floor created by the removed hearth, as well as support the remaining stack within the loft space by using both brackets and a concrete lintel or a steel beam supported on the external walls.

With regards to the chimney stack, you should ensure that you do not remove the brickwork above the ‘purlin line’ – this is the timber beam which runs at 90° to the timber roof rafters. When removing a chimney breast on an external wall, you should always ensure that you have the same amount of brick below the roof line as you can see above the roof. This is to maintain the loading back to the wall via the corbels. These two factors ensure stability of the stack. Chimney breast removal is classified as ‘building work’ under the Building Regulations and, as such, Building Control consent is required for this type of work.

Through-room alterations

A number of homeowners require enlarged floor areas and sometimes seek to remove the wall between the lounge and dining room. This wall tends to be at 90° to the party wall and also tends to be loadbearing, since the wall carries the support of the roof and upper floors. Before removing the wall, consideration should be given to ensure the capability of the retained wall to maintain its structural stability and transmit the weight of the roof and upper floor to the foundations. The opening created in the wall needs to be supported by a structural beam on a good padstone; this is either a few courses of Class B Engineering bricks, or a concrete cube which has been worked out for its size. The beam needs to be of a size and weight that has been calculated by a qualified building engineer, structural engineer or a building surveyor. Depending on the result of the calculations and size of the remaining pier, you may be required to brick up one of the doors to add structural stability or build a pier to support one end of the new beam. Failure to gain competent guidance could create a serious structural fault which in turn could evolve into a dangerous structure.

Internal walls should always be assessed before any work to them is undertaken, since they offer overall stability to other parts of the structure; this is particularly important where terraced houses are involved. Like chimney breasts, these works are classified as ‘building works’ and require Building Control consent.

Planning contravention

With regards to planning, all planning authorities have enforcement officers who seek out unauthorised work and take action in accordance with their set procedures. It should be noted that their available actions for dealing with breaches of planning control are set out in the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, which amended Part VII of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

The first stage is for the planning authority to serve a ‘Requisition for Information’. This is a statutory notice requiring the recipient to complete and return a questionnaire within 14 days. This provides the planning authority with details of the owner or, if warranted, the planning authority is able to undertake searches with the Land Registry. In exceptional circumstances a formal Planning Contravention Notice may be served to ascertain the required details. Once served, the information required by the Notice must be supplied within 21 days.

If 10 working days has lapsed since the issue of either the Requisition for Information Notice or Planning Contravention Notice, the planning authority can then serve an Enforcement Notice – failure to comply with this requirement may result in prosecution. The Enforcement Notice will state what needs to be undertaken by the owner and the time period in which compliance must be met.

If the notice is ignored, formal action may result in court orders to either demolition or clear the site. In this event the local authority can seek to recover their costs from the person or place a charge on the land.

Potential contraventions could include:

• Building work, material change of use without planning consent.
• Not following the approved plans which had planning consent and building something different.
• Not fully complying with any condition or limitations which are part of a planning consent.
• Demolition of a building within a conservation area without consent.
• Undertaking any work to a listed building without consent.
• Removal of protected trees or hedgerows without consent.
• Installation of a display advertisement without consent.

Is there an appeal procedure?

It should be noted that within the UK legal system there is also the right of appeal. You can appeal against a planning decision to the Planning Inspectorate prior to an Enforcement Notice being issued or you can appeal to the court against a Building Regulation Notice, or obtain from a suitably qualified person a written report concerning work to which a notice relates.

History of 'planning' to date

The concept of planning consent has been around si...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Notes on contributors
• Preface
• 1 Statutory control
• 2 Listed buildings and conservation areas
• 3 Sustainability
• 4 Neighbour issues
• 5 Minor works
• 6 Pre-contract
• 7 Specification clauses, examples, sources and how to draft
• 8 Post-contract
• Index