DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

I have a problem with regard to our builder and planning.
We had a two storey side extension put on our house which was completed september 2007. This included a new bedroom with en-suite upstairs, a new dining room and extension to existing kitchen downstairs. Although we were initially very pleased with the work we hadn't heard anything from the council to sign the building work off.
In April 2008 I phoned the council to ask where we stood and they said they would have to come out to inspect the work.

They came and gave me a list of things that needed to be done.

1 Trickle vent in dining room
2 Mains smoke alarms
3 Copy of electrical certificate
4 height of soil stack below overflow of sanitary appliances
5 Check lintel is sufficiently loadbearing
6 Approval of roof trusses

We contacted the builder back in April and gave him the list which he said he would get sorted. We have been trying to get him to provide the info needed now for six months with no joy, he keeps fobbing us off and we have just found out we cannot remortgage our house without the extension being signed off.

Where do I go from here, can I threaten to take him to court. We will do the work ourselves that we can do but otherwise we are stuck and there is some info needed that only he can provide. Can someone please advise.

contact building control and ask the building inspector what he has seen and passed and to provide a written report for the works need to be completed
Contact another builder and ask for a quotation for the work to be done and then bill the cost of the work to your original builder,you must give 30 days notice for the works to be carried out,
you must put this all in writting and photocopy all correspondence.
if after 30 days nothing is done you are intitled to sue.

Correct this is a building control issue (not planning), contact the council.

Do you have a small works contract with the builder?

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