Great Denham

As a private sector building control body, we are carrying out supervisory work on a property in Great Denham and have discovered that the house was not originally built to the minimum building regulation standards in 2000.

Obviously this could be a one off but another house build by the same developer is also reported devoid of cavity wall insulation.

In brief - Building Control is administered by either an Approved Inspector or the Local Authority; the Local Authority remain the ENFORCING AUTHORITY whichever the choice. However, if an Approved Inspector is used, the Enforcing Authority (the LA) is statute barred from checking for compliance on that project even after it is finished. In other words, Bedford Borough Council can do nothing about this problem.

ARE YOUR HEATING BILLS EXCESSIVE?

Our advice would be to physically check for existence of insulation in your external cavity walls. This can be carried out in 2 different ways

  1. thermalEmploy a suitable company to carry out a thermal photographic survey. This is done by taking thermal images of the external walls when the heating is on and the temperature difference between outside and inside is at least 15°C. Further information can be found on the internet – search on thermal image

    2. OR

  2. Endescope5200Employ a Surveyor to carry out a physical inspection of your cavities. This is done by using a cavity scope which can see into your cavity through small holes drilled in your brickwork (usually the joint between bricks). This then can “see” the insulation or not.

The thermal capacity (U value) of the walls should be at least 0 .45w/m²°C for properties built in 2000. Strangely enough the lower the value the better the insulation. 0.45 was the minimum requirement in 2000 and when the regulations were based on the elements of the building. Walls in your property might only be 0.95w/m²°C, which means you may have nearly twice the heat loss thorough the walls than the norm for a 9 year old house..

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Should you be able to establish a lack of thermal insulation in your cavity walls, you should

  1. Check our facts with the local authority - call Richard Martin on 01234  221759, then
  2. Contact three contractors to provide a quotation to insulate your walls, and
  3. Take up the failure to comply with minimum standards with the NHBC who was the Approved Inspector, or the original builder, with a view to recovering the cost of the remedial work

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT A CLAIM UNDER YOUR NHBC WARRANTY, BUT A FAILURE OF THE NHBC TO CHECK FOR MINIMUM STANDARDS UNDER BUILDING REGULATIONS