# Bought new house, extension has no foundation



## Nick_P (12 Apr 2019)

Hi all,

First post and its a big one and Im unsure of how it plays and and what course of action to take.

We bought a house in Dec which had a first floor extension over a garage.

We have started work to now convert the garage into a bedroom and low and behold, builder has discovered that there is no foundation under the extension.

Now we checked paperwork before signing for house as did solicitor (planning permission approved, compliance with building reg etc - only doubt i had was last piece was done 10 years after the build).

I am meeting with architect and building on Monday to see how to proceed but would appreciate any advice before this, what options I have and how it might play out?

Thanks in advance guys,

Nick


----------



## noproblem (12 Apr 2019)

When you say there's no foundation under the extension i'm assuming you mean the garage?


----------



## Nick_P (12 Apr 2019)

Hi Noproble, yes thats correct


----------



## noproblem (12 Apr 2019)

There's a possibility the foundation could be what's called a strip foundation


----------



## Nick_P (13 Apr 2019)

thanks - I have builder, my architect coming out Monday to review.  If the view is there is a breach of building regs, what are my options?  Sue issuer of the Opinion of Compliance?


----------



## Saavy99 (13 Apr 2019)

Nick_P said:


> thanks - I have builder, my architect coming out Monday to review.  If the view is there is a breach of building regs, what are my options?  Sue issuer of the Opinion of Compliance?



Whattt??? You won't have leg to stand in, Oppinion of  Compliance is just that, an opinion, so full of Caveats, it would be like taking Donald Duck to task. You need a cert of  compliance to sue anyone.


----------



## Nick_P (13 Apr 2019)

ah dont say that, so whats the point of it, if its not to ensure legal compliance?


----------



## Jim2007 (13 Apr 2019)

Nick_P said:


> ah dont say that, so whats the point of it, if its not to ensure legal compliance?



The hint is in the word ‘Opinion’....  It means that someone with experience might spot something obvious, better than nothing but not a lot.


----------



## Nick_P (13 Apr 2019)

so zero legal pushback then?  What are my building options, Ive heard of underpinning?


----------



## noproblem (13 Apr 2019)

Like a good lad, wait until you're certain of what's wrong, or not.


----------



## DeeKie (13 Apr 2019)

Did you get a survey


----------



## Leo (15 Apr 2019)

noproblem said:


> There's a possibility the foundation could be what's called a strip foundation



Guessing you mean slab?


----------



## Leo (15 Apr 2019)

Nick_P said:


> (planning permission approved, compliance with building reg etc - only doubt i had was last piece was done 10 years after the build).



And that 10 years is the issue here. As pointed out above, the cert you received was an opinion on compliance. There's a big difference between that an a certificate issued on completion of works that is it compliant with the planning granted and the building regs of the day. 

Talk to your solicitor, is there any recourse against the person who signed-off on that cert where they didn't check on this?

As for building options, underpinning is expensive. Weigh the costs of that against knocking and re-building the garage section. At least with knocking it you get to add insulation underneath and to the walls to modern standards.


----------



## Leo (15 Apr 2019)

DeeKie said:


> Did you get a survey



A survey won't pick up issues like this. Assessing a foundation would require digging around the walls, and they don't do that.


----------



## Nick_P (15 Apr 2019)

Leo said:


> And that 10 years is the issue here. As pointed out above, the cert you received was an opinion on compliance. There's a big difference between that an a certificate issued on completion of works that is it compliant with the planning granted and the building regs of the day.
> 
> Talk to your solicitor, is there any recourse against the person who signed-off on that cert where they didn't check on this?
> 
> As for building options, underpinning is expensive. Weigh the costs of that against knocking and re-building the garage section. At least with knocking it you get to add insulation underneath and to the walls to modern standards.



How much is underpinning ballpark?  On the rebuilding garage, there is a bedroom and bathroom above it so is that doable?


----------



## AlbacoreA (15 Apr 2019)

How old is the extension above it. I assume a while and there's no sign of any movement yet.


----------



## Nick_P (15 Apr 2019)

12 years and no visual indication of inadequate/no foundation.


----------



## AlbacoreA (15 Apr 2019)

That doesn't help you with compliance going forward. But it may influence the architect and builders approach.


----------



## noproblem (15 Apr 2019)

Leo said:


> Guessing you mean slab?



No, I would have written slab if that was the case.


----------



## Leo (15 Apr 2019)

noproblem said:


> No, I would have written slab if that was the case.



Fair enough, just not sure why you'd call out strip foundations then when that is the norm. Not exactly possible for a builder to miss a strip foundation.


----------



## SparkRite (15 Apr 2019)

Nick_P said:


> thanks - I have builder, my architect coming out Monday to review.



Any update on this yet, I'm waiting here with bated breath.


----------



## Nick_P (15 Apr 2019)

SparkRite said:


> Any update on this yet, I'm waiting here with bated breadth.



No further clarity.  Builder going to have to open up on central location of garage to ascertain.  My hearts breaking here as dont have the money if worse case comes through


----------



## noproblem (15 Apr 2019)

You might be surprised with some of the new type builders that are out there and i'm being 100% serious, but I also understand what you're saying.


----------



## Leo (15 Apr 2019)

The fact that this builder checked before just assuming everything was grand, I'm hoping they're old school


----------



## Nick_P (16 Apr 2019)

Builder has opened up across several sections of the garage.  70% (basically below original garage) has foundation, the rest doesn't.  They have also built the first floor on top of the original boundary wall which isnt good either.


----------



## Nick_P (16 Apr 2019)

Just to add, this is my plan - really appreciate thoughts so i can get some sleep tonight!

Get an my own engineer out to see what options are (will be early next week)
Contact solicitor for some advice (tomorrow)
Get engineer out who signed Opinion of Compliance (post above 2 points)


----------

