The Importance Of Site Inspections

Today, I've returned from a property where the home owner has for several years entered lengthy debate with an Architect, Builder, Engineer and Surveyor regarding the ingress of water into her property.

I cannot go into specifics but wanted to state that the professionals and the builder all attempted to prevent water from entering the cavity of the house and thus eliminating the potential for the water ingress above her window specifically.

We on the other hand confirmed that the root of the problem was poor water proofing detailing above the window lintel and that regardless of trying to stop water entering the cavity that the priority needed to be to repair the defective detailing above the window thereby eliminating any chance of ingress should water still make it into the cavity.

Now you would think that is common sense but unfortunately there are many professionals out there who think that they know what they are doing 'because they've done it that way for the last 25 years!' whereas infact a good and professional architect who is working with everchanging planning policies and warrant regulations is at the 'coal face' and can very quickly guide all of the design team and contractor on the correct way to do things, particularly where changes occur in what is commonly understood to be 'best practice'.

I will leave you with a thought. If you were doing a self build and spending approx £150,000 - £200,000 please make sure your architect has the construction knowledge, detailing experience and ability to properly inspect a project on site. I know we do...

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Architects Inspection Certificate

I have literally just received another call from a person who is looking to purchase a self build which does not have NHBC or an Architect's Inspection Certficate. Simply the Bank Lender will not consider lending on a property which cannot be proven to be build to an acceptable standard.

This seems to be a recurring subject over the last 2-3 months. I have never seen it on this scale before! Perhaps its simply that the Banks are tightening up on their systems and procedures?

Has anyone had any similar experiences? I would love to know.

Building Warrant or Not?

I have returned last night from another client who was directed by a solicitor in the purchase of the flat. As it turns out the flat does not appear to have a building warrant and as such I have been asked to anticipate what is involved to get a Certificate of Comfort.

A Certificate of Comfort would allow the sale of the property but does not strictly mean that the works are in full accordance with the building control regulations.

The moral of the story here is that any development or property alterations should have the appropriate paperwork in place. This client bought the property 11 years so you can tell how time catches up with you.

Please make sure that all of your paperwork is in place.

Architect’s Certification or Not?

Many Client’s don’t understand that when undertaking a self build that the Certification of the build by the Architect is an important and often mandatory Funding Requirement, but what are the implications of not obtaining an Architect’s Certificate when the Client is self funding?

The Certification process involves Architect’s site inspection at key stages of the build thus ensuring for the Funder (typically the Bank) that the build is true to the Planning and Warrant Approvals and in keeping with good building practice. Obviously the Architect’s Professional Indemnity Insurance would be called in should a problem occur with the house but the insurance would only pay out when it is proven that the Architect acted out with his means in signing off the stage.

When the Client is self funding the build then it’s quite common that they will avoid Architectural Certification and this may be ok in the short term until such times as the house is offered up to the market for sale. The purchaser’s solicitor would typically ask for the Architect’s Certificate on a self build and if the Vendor cannot provide this then it is extremely unlikely that the Purchaser’s Solicitor and Funder would accept the house.

In my opinion the Certification of the house is a small price to pay for piece of mind especially after such a huge investment.

Certification of the house can vary between £1500 - £2500 depending on the size of the house.