Apart from potentially endangering the lives of all of the occupants and invalidating any fire related insurance claim that's a first class solution.
Council approved drawings that don't meet regs now won't sign off
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Deleted member 281264
Why would I do that? when the council are the ones that cocked up. I would of altered the plans initially way before first fix, adding pocket doors or a sprinkler system
One of the occupants is disabled too, so not interested in any bodges to get approval
Slightly off topic but I hope you at least got a discount if not all of the BR fee waivd as the works are related to disabled occupant.
Just the council?
A fire protected escape route is a pretty fundamental part of any design, where a loft conversion has taken place.
Have you asked your architect what their reasoning was for not including one?
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Deleted member 281264
Of course some responsibility lies there and I will be looking into that too. But for the BCO's to visit multiple times and not say anything till the end is a bit of a joke
I was able to get a partial discount, was hoping for the whole fee to be waived but they were not having it
Do please let us know what you find out from BC.
”which drawing did you use to build this Bob?”
”well some days I used the coffee stained drawings in the van, last week I was using that copy now in the puddle over there, but this week Im using this copy - by the way, thats not corbelled brickwork on the drawing, Its a bit of Branson pickle”
Slightly tongue in cheek! I believe the route is appeal to the council, if that fails then appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman. If they find in your favour they have the power to make the council compensate you, however, these things work in strange (but logical ways when you think about it) ways; the examples on the website relate to unnecessary additional costs resulting from incorrect "advice" - in your case they would say that you always needed the sprinkler (or some way to meet the fire regulations - I didn't think they specified what would - just said yes or no to your proposal) and the remedy is just the additional making good costs of a retrospective installation and your appeal expenses (if these can be quantified).
God knows how long the appeal process takes, presumably you'll need to get the work done sooner. I would suggest, unless your BCO will confirm in writing that 5K of sprinkler is the only way to get it signed off, you need to obtain a specialist independent report confirming this and then get it done, with the appeal following.
Yes all talk of blame game and appealing and compensation will be absurdly drawn out and may not be successful anyway and as mentioned will only compensate for the additional works required now above the standard fitting costs. In anycase it seems hard to see how he can do anything other than just stumping up and get the sprinklers fitted now or I wonder if the OP had considered a sliding door between the kitchen and the hallway. Obvioulsy still a lot of work to create a compliant FR slider and the layout has disappeared now anyway so can't remember if that was even a workable option but just a thought.
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Deleted member 281264
It's quite a difficult situation, but with how hot things are on fire safety you would think building control would not have overlooked such a key element of the build and although homeowners have a responsibility to make sure their house complies building control should have a certain level of responsbility as they are getting paid after all.
I submitted drawings, they approved them and inspected along the way and now they are telling me it doesn't comply, the same inspector visited twice previously.
There is not really any way of fitting a sliding door without destroying some nice work.
I submitted drawings, they approved them and inspected along the way and now they are telling me it doesn't comply, the same inspector visited twice previously.
There is not really any way of fitting a sliding door without destroying some nice work.
Standard, unfortunately and the very reason I haven't used local authority BC for at least 5 years. You hardly get the same inspector twice on any job. Come the end they send you a list as long as your arm of 'things they want', despite all these things having been inspected and passed off. They are a pain in the ar$e.
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Deleted member 281264
The same inspector visited multiple times on this occasion
They should really refund me the whole fee for their incompetence.
I might be playing devil's advocate, but I always thought it was our responsibility to ensure that the work complied with the regs?
Correct and the OP seems to be taking that approach, ie being responsible.
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Deleted member 281264
Obviously it is a homeowners responsibility to make sure their property meets building regs and building control can't inspect every nook and cranny of the build.
But their job is to inspect key elements of the build that relate to safety which is paramount and basic. Most people are not aware of fire regulations and it's not reasonable to expect the general public to know that you need sprinklers in your house because it is not very common.
To turn up at the end of the build after the same officer visitied the build multiple times and say you need to destroy your newly renovated house and chase pipes into walls is not a very good service at all
But their job is to inspect key elements of the build that relate to safety which is paramount and basic. Most people are not aware of fire regulations and it's not reasonable to expect the general public to know that you need sprinklers in your house because it is not very common.
To turn up at the end of the build after the same officer visitied the build multiple times and say you need to destroy your newly renovated house and chase pipes into walls is not a very good service at all
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