Hi all,

We should have exchanged contracts on our house this week but our buyers have had some last minute worries about a drain in our Conservatory It is an old conservatory & our buyers have said that if they rebuild it, because of a change in regulations, they won't get planning permission again!? This has confused me as it already has planning permission

Does anyone know whether: if you build a conservatory now, the drain has to be outside? Because I know lots of people that have a drain in the Conservatory, is this a new regulation? Our buyers are coming round Friday with a builder to check it out, but I would like to be prepared & not be walked all over & a negotiation for a drop in their offer, because I don't know the first thing about building regulations. The drain in our Conservatory is sealed with a gel like seal so it is airtight but cover is still accessable & can be lifted for inspection, just needs to be resealed afterwards I think

Hope someone can help before Friday

http://www.nfh.org.uk/

That web site has a very good forum on it with info such as this. Good luck.

We had someone trying to tell us things in our house were illegal before they put an offer in, and would need to be totaly redone. They were wrong, as they were already in place before the laws came in.

Unless the local council in your area has changed it's regs regarding this then I doubt what your buyer is telling you. You already have planning permission on the conservatory so a few repairs or even a re-roof wouldn't require any further consent.
My advice would be to ring the local council and ask to talk to someone in the building/planning dept. preferably a building inspector, you'll probably have to leave your number & they'll call you back, if they don't keep calling!.
Explain the situation to the building inspector and he will advise you of local policy. Each local authority has it's own by-laws so you need to talk to the inspector in your own area.
Good luck

Thanks for the advice guys I will check out the website & ring the council in the morning, thanks again,

Chris

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Flipping heck Chris aren't you out here yet????

Is that you Snappy form AdelaideBrits? , what happened to Adelaide?

Chris

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Yes it is I . Started off travelling had to stop due to kids and hooked up what we thought was a great business deal, that fell through, decided to carry on building our house and give it another 2 years up here then decide what we are going to do then That's the summary to it and we still haven't made it to SA yet although I still want to go there at some point.

Please don't take my word for it as I am not completely sure - speak to your local building control officer at the council - they're usually very helpful. I think that the drain cover has to be double sealed. Not sure what that entails excatly but this is what I remember from a previous job I worked on (I'm an architect - been on maternity leave for a year though so memory is a bit fuzzy) Do you know if its a foul or rainwater drain?

Sorry couldn't be more help, must brush up on regulations again before I start back at work!

Emma

Hi Emma,

It's foul/sewer drain & now that you've mentioned it - I think it may well be double sealed I can remember when we first moved into the house nearly 10 years ago something to do with a top cover we had to get for it, but it's a long time ago now & like you my memory is a bit fuzzy Thanks for your reply,

Chris

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Sorry to hear about your business, but it's great to hear that you made it out there How long has it been since you arrived? & how come you opted for Queensland in the end?

I miss the AdelaideBrits, all very friendly on there, who was that nice lady that lived in Glenelg & then moved down the coast a bit? Seems along time ago now Ah! was it possum? or something like that, hmm. Do you still go on there?

We got Visa yesterday, so that has been nearly 3 years from recce to grant! We had a big pause in the middle as F-I-L got Cancer, felt wrong to still be persuing it when he was going through chemo, but he is all better now

Good to hear from you Sasha, all the best,

Chris

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Glad to hear your FIL is ok and agree with you he had to be your priority.

Congrats on the visa it was ages ago when you came over for a trip.

Podgy Possum moved to Sydney and doesn't post on the forums but I have heard she is happy and doing well through other people.

I am still on AB but just nosing as it has grown so much now I hardly know anyone on there but there still are a few people I like to stay in touch with.

We ended up in Queensland as we flew into Brisbane to collect a caravan for our travels and got as far as doing all the main coast of Queensland a couple of times and a bit inland to the mining country but settled down in the Far North. Kids were getting upset about always having to say goodbye to people as we were travelling....this then started off the continuous moan about wanting to return to the UK, then the fighting started between them hence stopping the travelling.

It has now been just over 2 years for us and even though it has been a struggle at times we still think as a family it has been the best move for us.

Good luck with the house sale. Let us know what happened when the builders came round?

Sasha x

Yup your right it should be double sealed (lid has 2 internal seals/lips) also it should be accessible. If you have the type of conservatory with dwarf walls and the sewer pipe runs underneath the walls,there should be a lintel above the pipe so no loading (downward pressure) from the walls is transfered onto the pipe.

Thanks for the info nik04

Buyer came round today with the builder, builder who incidentally is our buyers B-I-L was happy with everything & told our buyer not to worry about the drains or anything but it didn't change his mindset So that only tells me 1 thing... he is after lowering his offer to try & knock a few grand off the price I may be proved wrong, I hope I am, but it may backfire on him as his buyer needs to exchange by the 25th as their mortgage offer runs out

Thanks for all the input ppl, much appreciated

Chris

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no probs, i dont see why people make such a big deal over such a small job. If his B I L does it it wont cost more than £60 for materials and beer.
When i sold my house i put in new c/h system, new kitchen,new bathrooms, decorated every room and replumbed the whole house house the buyer moaned about the colour of a lamp shade in the front room, i told him not to worry as i was taking it

Glad you got it sorted!
We sold our house a year ago and had a couple of similar annoying bits to get sorted. Hope it works and you get sold soon.
We're going for a temporary 457visa to get out to Oz quickly (Brisbane), which we thought was relatively simple (compared to a permanent visa application) until I found out this morning that the company that i'll be working for have come to blows with the company that will be sponsoring me, on the contract details. The visa application was due to go in this week. We fly out on the 28th landing in Brisbane on the 1st of June with no date for my visa to come through yet, so messes me up for starting work. The company I'll be working for now want to sponsor me directly and have no idea how long this will take. So I guess I've got 3 months out there from next week with the hope that they all get their act into gear. I'm so sick of the companies I've dealt with already and I'm not even out there yet! (Recruitment agents, sponsoring agents and my employers) hope this isn't taste of things to come!
Anyway, enough of my drunken moanings, (needed a few to celebrate after I finally got rid of the shippers yesterday)
Emma