I saw a post on here a few days ago which sort of mirrored what I am going through but my situation is much worse and I don’t know where to turn.
This started in 2014 when I bought an orangery from a well know and reputable company.
At the time we were advised that we had planning permission / permitted development rights as the orangery was only 3 metres from the property and 4 metres wide.
I was advised that as this was an orangery it was effectively like a conservatory - an occasional room where the original exterior grade doors had to remain in place as a thermal barrier - and therefore we wouldn’t need building regulations.
Electrics from the house and central heating to the radiator came as standard.
However, I have now learned from the LA that due to the percentage ratio of brick walls to glass in the orangery, and the fact the central heating has been extended this should have necessitated building regulations. How could the company not have known this? If they did, should they not have advised me of this?
It gets worse …
Outside of our home were 2 manhole covers in close proximity to each other. I was again advised that it would be fine to put the orangery on top as ‘this is what most other homeowners do to avoid unnecessary costs .. and other access points would be available' (where from I don’t know). Yes I was incredibly naive but I took them at their word. They are a long established company with a lot of good reviews.
I have no access to the manholes now. We have tiles in the orangery which were placed on top of the solid cement floor.
This problem has come to light because I want a proper roof on the orangery and to take out the external grade doors to make one large room and I have been asked by the LA why building regulations weren’t sought originally for the orangery. They have been understanding and said they can look into doing a regularisation including an inspection which we are grateful for - but as yet, I haven’t mentioned the manhole issue.
I’m deeply worried about this. I feel like it looks like I’ve been deceiving people and trying to have my cake and eat it but I genuinely thought when spending 15k to have the orangery built everything was being taken care of.
Now I’m worried that if I do the regularisation the manhole issue will come up? Even if it doesn’t, surely it would come up if I tried to move house?
I’m reading that I might be able to have a camera go down to check if the pipes are in good condition in the manholes to prove they were never damaged but how would a camera even get down? How do I find where these manholes are? How far down is it from the cement floor to where they would be?
I know I sound like a crazy person but I’m now living alone and have no idea how to deal with any of this. I don’t want to lose the extension. I doubt the original company would help or would even want to know. I’m under a 10 year guarantee but I guess that’s just for structural fault … Should I not have plans and a completion certificate from them or something? Can I still get hold of this?
Is there any way to resolve this without knocking the extension down or spending thousands on re-routing manholes? Can I dig down and have manhole accessibility in the house?
If ANYBODY could help me with any of these points to know the best thing to do I’d be more than grateful. I can’t even sleep with the stress of this.
This started in 2014 when I bought an orangery from a well know and reputable company.
At the time we were advised that we had planning permission / permitted development rights as the orangery was only 3 metres from the property and 4 metres wide.
I was advised that as this was an orangery it was effectively like a conservatory - an occasional room where the original exterior grade doors had to remain in place as a thermal barrier - and therefore we wouldn’t need building regulations.
Electrics from the house and central heating to the radiator came as standard.
However, I have now learned from the LA that due to the percentage ratio of brick walls to glass in the orangery, and the fact the central heating has been extended this should have necessitated building regulations. How could the company not have known this? If they did, should they not have advised me of this?
It gets worse …
Outside of our home were 2 manhole covers in close proximity to each other. I was again advised that it would be fine to put the orangery on top as ‘this is what most other homeowners do to avoid unnecessary costs .. and other access points would be available' (where from I don’t know). Yes I was incredibly naive but I took them at their word. They are a long established company with a lot of good reviews.
I have no access to the manholes now. We have tiles in the orangery which were placed on top of the solid cement floor.
This problem has come to light because I want a proper roof on the orangery and to take out the external grade doors to make one large room and I have been asked by the LA why building regulations weren’t sought originally for the orangery. They have been understanding and said they can look into doing a regularisation including an inspection which we are grateful for - but as yet, I haven’t mentioned the manhole issue.
I’m deeply worried about this. I feel like it looks like I’ve been deceiving people and trying to have my cake and eat it but I genuinely thought when spending 15k to have the orangery built everything was being taken care of.
Now I’m worried that if I do the regularisation the manhole issue will come up? Even if it doesn’t, surely it would come up if I tried to move house?
I’m reading that I might be able to have a camera go down to check if the pipes are in good condition in the manholes to prove they were never damaged but how would a camera even get down? How do I find where these manholes are? How far down is it from the cement floor to where they would be?
I know I sound like a crazy person but I’m now living alone and have no idea how to deal with any of this. I don’t want to lose the extension. I doubt the original company would help or would even want to know. I’m under a 10 year guarantee but I guess that’s just for structural fault … Should I not have plans and a completion certificate from them or something? Can I still get hold of this?
Is there any way to resolve this without knocking the extension down or spending thousands on re-routing manholes? Can I dig down and have manhole accessibility in the house?
If ANYBODY could help me with any of these points to know the best thing to do I’d be more than grateful. I can’t even sleep with the stress of this.
