Talk to me about moving drains

[deepfriedsage]

So the drains run down the side of the house. Now what are the practicalities of building a utility room around the drainsor moving the drains? I decided to avoid building over the manhole.

Are the costs huge? I know there was a law change over drains and it confuses me. I need to work out costs before I call out a builder as if its too expensive there will be no building, and I will consider a utility shed instead.

Our builder just moved ours, and the manhole. I don't know the exact cost as he just included it in the overall cost of the extension, it took them a full day though. Don't do anything without speaking to your water company though - ours we able to assess what needed doing over the phone using their own paperwork, and gave us permission to go ahead. It will all depend on which 'end' of the drain you are.

And your council building regs department should be able to give you more detailed advice

You shouldn't need to move a drain.

The law change makes the homeowner responsible for the drain on their land up to the boundary, but in some cases there are still adopted drains where this might be common with multiple properties.

Your builder should factor in a utility company build over agreement as part of the works - this will vary depending on area but is typically £350 or so.
The foundation should then go straight over the drain but will need lintols where it crosses, so again a bit more work but hundreds not thousands.