Building advice, you could save a life.

[Hillian1]

Brother in law has been told his ex wife has somehow knocked through a supporting wall in her 3 story house, how she's done this is beyond us but her daughter is concerned enough to tell us.

Here's the thing, she absolutely Will not listen to her daughter or her daughters boyfriend and they are very concerned the whole building could come down taking next door with it.

Who is there I can call to have it checked, bearing in mind she absolutely believes that there is nothing wrong and flies off the handle if questioned.

 

[The Albion Roar]

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/knocking-down-internal-walls/

 

[whitelion]

Brother in law has been told his ex wife has somehow knocked through a supporting wall in her 3 story house, how she's done this is beyond us but her daughter is concerned enough to tell us.

Here's the thing, she absolutely Will not listen to her daughter or her daughters boyfriend and they are very concerned the whole building could come down taking next door with it.

Who is there I can call to have it checked, bearing in mind she absolutely believes that there is nothing wrong and flies off the handle if questioned.

Contact the Building Inspector at the local authority.

This type of work would have to pass Building Regulations.

 

[Notters]

Imagine the Council would want to know...

https://www.gov.uk/report-dangerous-building-structure

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

You need to get a building surveyor round ASAP. Have a look on here to find a local one: https://www.ricsfirms.com

 

[Hillian1]

Cheers all.

Have contacted the local authority.

 

[jackanada]

Get the spare beds ready. If it's dangerous they'll be out the house the day it gets inspected.

Edit: May be able to put in a couple of acro props and stay in house until remedied. If Brighton area feel free to pm me nearer time, won't take long to collect some and put them up.

 

[Hillian1]

Get the spare beds ready. If it's dangerous they'll be out the house the day it gets inspected.

Edit: May be able to put in a couple of acro props and stay in house until remedied. If Brighton area feel free to pm me nearer time, won't take long to collect some and put them up.

Eastbourne, but thanks.

Not sure why I'm bothering really, I can't stand her and the feeling is very much reciprocated but she is the mother of my niece's and nephews.

 

[Notters]

Get the spare beds ready. If it's dangerous they'll be out the house the day it gets inspected.

Edit: May be able to put in a couple of acro props and stay in house until remedied. If Brighton area feel free to pm me nearer time, won't take long to collect some and put them up.

Are they likely to get in a lot of trouble for this sort of thing or is it a case of no actual damage / harm = no action?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Are they likely to get in a lot of trouble for this sort of thing or is it a case of no actual damage / harm = no action?

My (layman) take, is that if private individuals did such a thing to their own property, they'd not be in 'trouble' but would be liable to put things right. If a building firm / company had done it, then yes they'd be in strife. Not that they'd be that THICK though, you'd imagine.

 

[Easy 10]

Wasn't this bloke was it ?

 

[whitelion]

My (layman) take, is that if private individuals did such a thing to their own property, they'd not be in 'trouble' but would be liable to put things right. If a building firm / company had done it, then yes they'd be in strife. Not that they'd be that THICK though, you'd imagine.

Not so....

"A local authority has a general duty to enforce the building regulations in its area and will seek to do so by informal means wherever possible. If informal enforcement does not achieve compliance with the regulations the local authority has two formal enforcement powers which it may use in appropriate cases.

First, if a person carrying out building work contravenes the Building Regulations, the local authority may prosecute them in the Magistrates' Court where an unlimited fine may be imposed (sections 35 and 35A of the Building Act 1984). Prosecution is possible up to two years after the completion of the offending work. This action will usually be taken against the person carrying out the work (builder, installer or main contractor).

Alternatively, or in addition, the local authority may serve an enforcement notice on the building owner requiring alteration or removal of work which contravenes the regulations (section 36 of the 1984 Act). If the owner does not comply with the notice the local authority has the power to undertake the work itself and recover the costs of doing so from the owner.

A section 36 enforcement notice cannot be served on you after the expiration of 12 months from the date of completion of the building work. A local authority also cannot take enforcement action under section 36 if the work which you have carried out is in accordance with your full plans application which the authority approved or failed to reject.

An appeal against a section 36 notice may be made to a Magistrates’ Court under section 102 of the Building Act.

Where an approved inspector is providing the building control service, the responsibility for checking that the building regulations are complied with during the course of your building work will lie with that inspector. They will usually do this by advising you.

However, approved inspectors do not have formal enforcement powers. In a situation where the inspector considers your building work does not comply with the building regulations and there is a refusal to bring it into compliance the inspector will cancel the initial notice. If no other approved inspector takes on the work, the building control function will automatically be taken on by your local authority. From this point on, your local authority will also have enforcement powers set out above where it considers this necessary."

 

[jackanada]

In this situation it sounds like the risk is of the floor above collapsing. If the inspector considered this a risk to adjoining properties (unlikely) they could be compelled to have the work done, or a council appointed contractor would eventually do the work and they would be billed.
Most likely it just gets declared unsafe to enter, a notice is put outside and they could leave it unoccupied and unsafe for as long as they wished.

 

[whitelion]

Wasn't this bloke was it ?

Orelly?

 

[Garage_Doors]

Orelly?

No O’Reilly.

 

[whitelion]

No O’Reilly.

Manuel says Orelly:

"The Fawltys depart and Polly goes to her room for a short nap, telling Manuel to wake her as soon as the builders arrive. Left behind the desk alone, Manuel enjoys his temporary power, imagining the hotel is his own. During this time, a delivery man arrives to deliver a garden gnome Sybil has ordered, but confuses Manuel into thinking that he wants a room for it. Manuel places the gnome behind the desk. The builders arrive, and confusion arises when Manuel keeps asking them if they are "Orelly" men. This irritates Lurphy, the bearded builder, until another of the men realises "Orelly" in fact means "O'Reilly". Immediately Lurphy understands and affirms they are indeed "Orelly" men (whilst referring to Manuel as "Thick as a plank"). Whilst the builders study the plans, Manuel goes upstairs to wake Polly up. He enters her room to see her sleeping peacefully, and decides not to disturb her. Manuel returns to the front desk and receives a call from someone he believes is asking for Basil. After insulting the caller, Manuel drops the receiver in shock when he realises Basil is on the line. On Basil's instructions, Manuel calls Lurphy (the bearded builder) over and then, whilst listening to Basil but clearly not understanding what he is saying, calls Lurphy "a hideous orangutan." Lurphy responds by punching Manuel, which is what Basil had hoped for."

 

[Garage_Doors]

Manuel says Orelly:

"The Fawltys depart and Polly goes to her room for a short nap, telling Manuel to wake her as soon as the builders arrive. Left behind the desk alone, Manuel enjoys his temporary power, imagining the hotel is his own. During this time, a delivery man arrives to deliver a garden gnome Sybil has ordered, but confuses Manuel into thinking that he wants a room for it. Manuel places the gnome behind the desk. The builders arrive, and confusion arises when Manuel keeps asking them if they are "Orelly" men. This irritates Lurphy, the bearded builder, until another of the men realises "Orelly" in fact means "O'Reilly". Immediately Lurphy understands and affirms they are indeed "Orelly" men (whilst referring to Manuel as "Thick as a plank"). Whilst the builders study the plans, Manuel goes upstairs to wake Polly up. He enters her room to see her sleeping peacefully, and decides not to disturb her. Manuel returns to the front desk and receives a call from someone he believes is asking for Basil. After insulting the caller, Manuel drops the receiver in shock when he realises Basil is on the line. On Basil's instructions, Manuel calls Lurphy (the bearded builder) over and then, whilst listening to Basil but clearly not understanding what he is saying, calls Lurphy "a hideous orangutan." Lurphy responds by punching Manuel, which is what Basil had hoped for."

It was reference to John Cleese sales training videos.

One part is dedicated to doing your research correctly in getting details correct, such as the person name.
Cleese enters the room and greets the buyer with "hello Mr O'really"
Buyer: "its O'Reilly"
Clesse: oh Really !
Buyer: no its O'Reilly !!!!!!

A lot funnier when you see Cleese do it

 

[sparkie]

If the property is mortgaged, I suspect the mortgage company won't exactly be ecstatic about it.

 

[nickbrighton]

A couple of years agobwe had a supporting wall knocked down to enlarge our living room. We had a friend of my nephews do it. (Qualified builder). We had two visits from a archuetect/surveyor who checked all the other work we had done , (room in roof) , drew up plans, dug half way to Australia to put in a foundation capable of holding the steel uprights and girders. My house is probablyva lot more secure now than itvwas before, but even so, I will admit to at least 2months of worrying every time I heard a creak ,or foundna small drying crack in the plaster.

 

[drew]

Orelly?

A wooden lintel should do the trick then!