# Who has the plans/designs for my house?



## RMCF (9 Sep 2011)

Hopefully this is in the correct section.

I recently moved into a stand-alone house (ie not one of many in a development) and was wondering who would hold the plans/designs etc?

Question came to me when I was thinking about my septic tank, and was wondering about its layout within my ground.

I have no contact with the last owner, but they were not the original occupants of the house anyway. Think its about 10 yrs old, and no idea who built it.
Would the local council be worth approaching? Or perhaps the planning folk?


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## onq (10 Sep 2011)

1. Local Authority Archives

2. Mortgage Provider/solicitor with booklet of title.

3. Original Architect.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon                  as a defence or support - in and of itself - should   legal        action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in                  Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on  the         matters    at      hand.


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## RMCF (10 Sep 2011)

onq,

Thanks, good informative response as usual. Top man.

Couple of questions, by Local Authority Archives do you mean County Council?

Or should the last solicitor who handled my mortgage be able to help?

No idea who the original architect was.


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## onq (10 Sep 2011)

Yes, I mean the local authority/ County Coiuncil ouncil/ UDC planning department archives - you may need to pay €30.00 or so to get the files from storage or you may find the drawings in the online planning files.

The original solicitor may have had a copy of the plans deposited with him and your solicitor can discover if this is so and where they are now.

The architect's name should be on the plans, which is a chicken or egg I know, but equally there may be local or builder's knowledge. 

You could Google the estate or the house site to see if there were articles written about it - these seldom mention the architect.

There may also be a record of his name in Building Control Commencement Notices form.

There may not have been an architect per se.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon                   as a defence or support - in and of itself - should    legal        action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in                   Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on   the         matters    at      hand.


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## onq (10 Sep 2011)

RMCF,

At the risk of sounding inquisitive why did this query float into your awareness when contemplating your septic tank?
Are you concerned its not installed properly, or are you worried about [broken link removed]?
If either of the above concerns are the source, I'm afraid that the answers will not be found in a layperson's review of planning drawings.
In terms of legal action, the statute of limitation expires for most offences after six years, apart from fraud, and the latter could be hard to prove.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon                    as a defence or support - in and of itself - should     legal        action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in                    Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on    the         matters    at      hand.


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## RMCF (10 Sep 2011)

onq

To be honest I was doing a bit of reading about septic tanks recently due to the media talk about possible charges coming in. I always lived in a town and so septic tanks are a new thing to me, so I was doing my homework!

Plus I would have the odd smell in the air out around my back garden, and I was trying to find out if there might be something wrong or if it was a thing you got every now and again with septic tanks. So after reading all about leach fields etc I was having a look at my back garden and trying to see where the pipes would be, and so the question about the actual layout and where the drawings for the design might actually be. Plus there is no lid to be seen anywhere, so it must be covered over with grass. I have only got 2 vent pipes sticking up.

So that was the reason I was asking.


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## onq (11 Sep 2011)

Hi RMCF,

Maybe you have a touch of precognition.

As you can see [broken link removed], with the possibility arising that levies supposedly to be charged against households that are non-compliant in relation to septic tank installations.

Cavan, heretofore considered a bit of a backwater where technology is concerned, is the only Councilin the country the ECJ considers has adequately covered the issue of wastewater disposal.

Here is a [broken link removed] which appears in a link that is currently available on their website

Here is the [broken link removed]

Here is some  from Limerick Co. Co. website

Some [broken link removed] of this from South Dublin Co. Co.


FWIW


ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon                     as a defence or support - in and of itself - should      legal        action    be      taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in                     Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on     the         matters    at      hand.


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