Load-bearing wall - no building regs

[Misscf81]

Yesterday I posted about a house we are buying that had no building regs for a basement conversion - we have come to terms with this, as it seems quite common that this is done and the house has not been valued on the basis of the basement being a habitable room.

However, the vendor has also made alterations to a first-floor room and also ground floor room, which she has no paperwork for - my solicitor said that if they are not load-bearing then the vendor does not need any regs, but the person that did the homebuers report stated that at least one of the walls (ground floor) would have been load-bearing and that the first floor one may have.

I just don't know what to do, we love this property and don't want to walk away, and ultimately, I just want to know that the walls are safe and have something in writing to confirm this - is this down to me or the vendor to sort out?

There are already a few issues with some decking/potential damp that we have taken on the chin and said we would sort, along with the fact that a previous DPC has failed and we said we would get this redone.

I just want to know it is structurally sound, but my solicitor seems to think this is all on me.

What has the vendor said? You have some choices:

1. tell the vendor that you want a full structural survey and they need to pay for it - then at least you will know if they are willing to engage (i would be surprised if they do this, as they are living in a house potentially with an unsafe structure)
2. pay for one yourself and be prepared to either walk away or factor in the remedial work into your costs/offer

It is really up to you to decide what you are willing to do - is it worth the hassle?

I'd be worried about that basement. Did the current owner make these changes? Do they have builder contract and receipts? That may detail whether they had RSJs put in even if they never got building tags to sign it off.
I once partially knocked down a structural wall and the builder did put in an RSJ but in my ignorance I dod not have building control inspect it. When I sold I just had to buy indemnity insurance. I felt ok about it as I knew the structure was sound.
I can not believe the seller did this work and is ignorant as to whether the builder used steel supports - they would have been expensive. Whether they would lie to you about it is another matter.
You need to get a full structural report (which you should do anyway on buying a house). And yes it is on you to get it, but if he/she flags up issues you can renegotiate. Any buyer will have the same issues so seller should be amenable to this.

Require them to have a structural survey completed or you just won't know for certain. Can't believe they have no paperwork for it either...

Lack of building regs is surprisingly common.

Often a lack of knowledge/awareneness of what is required.

Sometimes it is the case that the work was inspected whilst it was being carried out and the final certificate was never paid for/chased up.

It should not automatically be assumed that a lack of a certificate means there is an issue, or the work is dangerous. It does mean that further investigation is required to understand exactly what was done, and when, and what inspections were carried out by either the local authority or a private building control firm.

Before engaging a structural engineer to visit the property you'll need to get the present owner to agree to the plaster on the wall being removed in order to see what supports have been put in place following the removal of the wall, and to ensure they are adequate.

Definitely get it investigated properly before you go any further. We recently had to fix a removed and unsupported chimney breast, and a removed internal wall, and it cost thousands - structural survey, 2 new steels, making good etc. Without investigation, you won’t know if the work was done properly, and unlike a damp cellar, this could be very serious.

I would want the seller to pay for a structural engineer to check it out. If they refuse, I would walk away. It might not be structurally sound and could be dangerous/expensive to fix.

Thank you all! Our solicitor has confirmed that our searches are back and there are no building regs for walls (which I knew anyway) - I have called and spoken with the estate agent and also followed up with an email stating they have to speak to the vendor about this issue, either she needs to get a reputable structural surveyor to put in writing that the work is structurally sound and not dangerous, or she needs to get a retrospective building reg/cert - or we walk. The basement was one thing, but ripping out load-bearing walls without building regs is another.

Well done misscf81 👍

Ask the vendor to regularise it with building control. It will cost about £200 and they will get a certificate.

I would be surprised if Building Control would certify it in retrospect without the area being fully exposed, ie plaster off and also seeing the specification of the steel and whether that exceeded calculations as to what was required, for which an engineers report may be required.

For info, when we have done structural work, we have needed a structural engineer to do all the calculations as to what foundations were required, ie when loading walls with steels you have to demonstrate the wall can take the additional load and for one of ours we had to demolish the wall, drill down and install reinforced foundations, build the wall with reinforced materials and then install the steel.

A structural e report will probably just tell you what you a,ready know without the above. You might find it is all a complete hassle but it is down to the vendor unless it is sold at discount as seen or via and auction really