Building Control Surveys & Party Wall, JCT, NEC Contracts
BUILDING CONTROL INSPECTIONS
Please contact us to book your building regulation site inspections. Fortunately due to the current situation and our Building Control Surveyors mostly working remote, we are able to offer same-day site inspections and you need to contact us and book your site inspection request by 3pm on the day before the site visit is required.
To book a site inspection visit you can do this by one of the following methods, this needs to be carried out before 5pm on the previous day, and we will then ensure that the visit is booked for the following working day (this does not include Completion Inspections, where these are requested a member of the Building Control Team will make contact to arrange these for a specific day):
You can book in order for an inspection to be booked you must include the following information:
- Planning Applications & Regs Reference Number.
- Site Address including Postcode.
- Type of inspection requested
- Builder's name, address and telephone (first inspection only).
- Contact name and telephone number (for subsequent inspections).
- Date work will be ready for inspection.
Stages of inspections
The following are the stages at which notification should be given to us for most building projects. However, as all jobs are individual we may request that other stages are inspected once work has commenced on site.
- Commencement - Notification is required 2 working days before commencement of the works.
- Foundations excavated - This is required before the concrete is poured.
- Damp-proof course and Ground floor oversite - This is required when the ground floor oversite is prepared before concreting. (Note that other types of floor construction are required to be inspected before they are covered up).
- Structural timbers, steelwork, or concrete beams - This is required before they are covered up.
- Drains for foul and surface water - This is required before backfilling.
- Drains testing
- Roof structure -This is required before tiling or plaster boarding.
- Occupied before completion (where relevant) - An inspection can be carried out if the building is to be occupied before it can be considered complete for Building Regulations.
- Work completed - This inspection is carried out once all the work is completed.
When the work is found to be satisfactory and all other relevant inspections have been made, a Completion Certificate for the work can be issued. Most house sales require a Completion Certificate for any works undertaken to which Building Regulations Approval apply.
PARTY WALL CONTRACTS
-A party wall agreement, also known as a party wall contract, is an agreement to record building works with a neighbor of a shared boundary to prevent any dispute when the works are carried out.
Protect yourself from dispute by recording agreed works on boundary shared with your neighbor using a party wall professional surveyor. This straightforward document sets out clearly what improvements are needed, how the cost will be split and the completion date of the works.
This party wall contract can be used to set out building works to party property including, repairing boundary walls, excavating within six meters of neighboring property and building new walls or buildings at the boundary.
JCT "Design and Build" Contracts
The JCT "Design and Build" Contract is drafted so that the contractor is responsible for completing the design of works as well as carrying them out. The developer provides detailed information to set out its requirements. The JCT Design and Build Contract is a lump sum contract (i.e. the total cost of constructing the works is set out in the contract) where the contractor is paid periodically. This form of contract is very popular with large developers as there is a single party with design responsibility – the contractor. This means that if the design of the works is defective, the developer only need pursue the contractor to recover all of their losses related to the defective design.
JCT Minor Works Contracts
The JCT Minor Works Contract is drafted to suit simpler projects. One version of the JCT Minor Works Contract contains provisions allowing for the contractor to design part of the works, and the other version places all design responsibility with the developer. The JCT Minor Works Contract is typically used for projects like retail fit outs or extensions to commercial property but there is no hard and fast rule limiting its use to a particular size or value of construction project.
NEC Contracts
The New Engineering Contract (NEC) is a series of contracts designed to manage a project – particularly a civil engineering project – from start to finish, with the aim of preventing costly disputes.
