Help! Builder boarded over kitchen extractor vent...

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Hi - our builder has very helpfully 'forgotten' about extending our duct for our kitchen extractor during our extension build and has now plastered over the existing vent. Upon questioning this he has given me a whole host of excuses and now says that he will have to use a charcoal filter instead. Is that adequate and acceptable or should we be pushing for them to sort out the issue and find a way to duct it? The cooker is no longer on an outside wall. Thanks

It won’t be an extractor. Unless you have proper extraction it doesn’t meet building regs. He needs to sort it out. You might have to have boxed in ducting across the ceiling or it can be run along the tops of wall units.

If it was clearly part of the project, then he needs to fix the issue.

Do you have a detailed project plan that forms part of your contact? If so, he has to work to that.

wowfudge

Doesn't that depend upon whether there's an openable window?

Re building regs, my understanding is (looked in to it quite a bit as we have chosen not to have an extractor in our new kitchen) that if an existing room you can’t make it worse than it already was - so if it previously ducted to outside it must still do so. If a new build/extension there are also specific extraction rules that must be met, so need an extractor.

The charcoal filter things do not count for this (how we could get away with not having one, because that’s all that was in place before & ours is not a new room).

So yes I think you need to challenge the builder on this - I’d be asking him to prove to me that his suggestion will meet building regs requirements.

Thank you all for that! The kitchen is not a new room, it's just the extension has blocked the existing outside wall that the extracted vent was located on. It has clearly been forgotten. I'll get on to challenging him tomorrow. Thanks again!

Sorry wowfudge. I misread that there was an existing extractor.

no worries Veni

Tell him "Hell no unblock my extractor". The charcoal filter only gets rid of some smells, it isn't going to get rid of all that moist air of boiling/steaming/general coooking. You could end up with mold in the corners and steamed up walls and windows when you cook.

How will anyone ever know what u had before??

Building inspectors will ask what was there before

If u r having a new kitchen only why wouldbuilding inspectors come?

he didn't forget.

he couldn't be bothered doing a proper job and was confident he could fob you off with feeble excuses.

Did this get resolved?