Building regulations for chimney removal

[stayfit]

Hi all,

We bought a semi detached property in 2017 and got survey done. We were told 20 yrs back one chimney was removed and they did not have building regs. So we got survey done and asked questions if whatever was done is strong. We were told it looks fine and as it is 20 years old we don't need to worry and structure has stayed all these years. Now we have no evidence about the builder who did it. We took our builder friend who said old semi he has seen many such cases and it's not a big deal. Now our neighbour who is extending is raising this as an issue that our predecessors did not ask him permission while taking chimney out and now he wants it checked as he is planning his extension. I don't know why he didn't take up the matter all those years when ex owner was here. So we are now waiting for our solicitor to tell us if we will be liable for any issues found. We don't have an insurance as they said it's pointless after so many years and it doesn't cover the actual repair costs should there be any. Please advice is anyone has come across an issue like this and have any tips/suggestions. Many thanks in advance.

Hopeful bump, my solicitor is quite busy and I can only expect a reply by tomorrow at the earliest :(

Bumping for evening crowd

I would happily tell him no, you're not investigating it further as the survey said it was fine.

You are way beyond the time limit for any breach of regulations.

Thank you! Is it still worth applying for retrospective building regs?

I don't see how you can get retrospective consent - if, for example, an rsj was required, how will anyone be able to tell if this was done?
Unless the structure is unsafe, absence of consent would not be actionable so many years later.
However, the neighbour's surveyor has obviously told them to find out whether your wall was reinforced - if it was not, the neighbour's builders will have more to do to ensure stability of the wall, which would require more expense, I guess.
And if they are doing work on a party wall, there should be a party wall agreement drawn up, at Their expense.

How is what remains of the chimney supported?

Is it a steel beam in the loft, or is it supported further down? Or is it supported by gallows brackets in the loft?

Does your neighbour still have their chimney breast in its entirety?

I would still be inclined to do nothing as it's not your issue.

There is a bracket which our builder and surveyed had a look and found substantial. Neighbour's side is still have the original chimney breast. They are planning loft extension and wants to take the chimney bricks on top of roof completely out. I am happy to do a party wall and sign a no objection if all is checked. He has 2 teens and is in badly need of space. It's strange he is hung upon the issue our predecessors didn't ask him and so we shouldn't ask about party wall and blindly sign consent.

Thanks again for all replies! I am more and more convinced that since it's been so long and passed surveys I don't think anyone can do much.
This house was in excellent condition for a 1930s property and close to transport links and good schools was in good demand. We paid 5k extra to win the bid in the end.

Bumping if someone else might have more tips/suggestions. Neighbor is still going on about getting building control officer in. I have said I am happy to share reports (survey shows structure is safe) but won't take any action now. He wants us to remove the chimney stack from the loft area as he wants to remove it on his side too. I have written to solicitor seeking advice. I have no funds to do any work right now as it's school holidays and I pay for holiday clubs etc.

The Party Wall Act came into force on 1 July 1997. Building control - it is they who enforce building regs - won't do anything as it was over 10 years ago.

My guess is that your neighbour is 1. miffed that they weren't told about work to the party wall; and 2. concerned that what they are planning may be more difficult and expensive as a result of the work done to your side of the chimney.

You've done more than enough. I'd tell them they are welcome to contact whomever they choose, but you won't be due to the length of time which has elapsed since the work was carried out.

For clarity, I mean building control won't do anything as the work on your house was over ten years ago.

As for removing the chimney stack - that's a Party Wall Act matter and he needs to follow the process.

It is possible that the work he plans, is impacted by the work done on your side 20 years ago. Unfortunately, he has to take into account the current state of your property, not what would have been required if your property was in its original state. If you share a chimney stack with him and he wants to remove it, he will have to pay. .. Insist on a party wall agreement and appoint your own surveyor.

Thank you very much! I am happy to cooperate in terms of letting a surveyor in and assess the state of things done. I am only unable to pay for the works myself.

I totally appreciate him being miffed but he has 20 years to react before I even bought the house.

Will keep you all posted on how it goes. Many thanks again

Nothing for you to worry about, we had a similar situation although we were the other neighbour. When they removed most of their stack, the owner of our house didn't want to remove the top.
When we did our extension we were happy to pay for the top to be demolished completely and the necessary repairs to their roof, as it kept our structural engineer happy and solved a problem for the neighbours too.
No idea how much it cost as we didn't get it broken down, but we didn't bother the neighbours with any of the details and didn't ask for any money!

Thanks @johnd2, was it necessary for the whole top to come off? Did they need extra permissions for only that top part which I assume is part of loft? It was nice of you to pay for the whole job!

Which country do you live in .......retrospective building regs have different timelines depending where you are.....

London England - it says we can't get it after 1985 in the council website but we are still awaiting solicitor advise to see how to proceed. Thanks

It wasn't totally necessary to take the whole thing off but the structural engineer didn't fancy trying to support it somehow else. It certainly wouldn't have been easy.
There was no extra permission needed as complete removal of a chimney is not a work that needs approval, and anyway it was part of the larger work and on the approved building plans.
Also it wasn't really that nice of us to pay as it was easier to do it that way, and the benefit to us was much greater compared with next door,ie we could do our extension successfully, whereas they were just getting rid of a chimney top they weren't bother about.

You neighbour thinks that he will be stung for the chimney removal costs that he would have saved if he had done his conversion first as the stack is currently stable on the indoor portion of the chimney in his house and the support in your house but won't be as easy to support without both internal chimneys.

However.. the work that needs to be done now, is due to his conversion work and would not need to be done on your side otherwise.

There are many features in houses built some time ago that would not pass building regulations today, so any talk of current building regulations is irrelevant to the conversation. Stay strong, you do not have to offer to pay towards this work, no matter how hard done by your neighbour feels.

Thanks @JaneEyreAgain and @johnd2. My solicitor has evidence to show the work was 25 years and also that it's well supported as per survey results. I am not agreeing to anything he proposes.
He has told my husband he wants to take everything off without doing party wall and we can break the costs as if he wants to help. All we need to do is sign off a document for him.
We have clearly said we won't agree to that. Solicitor said we won't be conveying a property if they saw any red flags. Due to the time that has lapsed he probably doesn't have a case. While I agree what my predecessors did wasn't right I wish he had raised it and closed the case straight away.
Shame he had to go the way of scaremongering. We have tried to be nice and allowed them access to our side with fence taken off and offered help when they did their back extension. We tried to be good neighbours.