Don't break the law. Here are a few pieces of legislation which you might fall foul of:
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
This act requires those who provide goods, facilities and services to the public to make ‘reasonable' provisions for the disabled. You may need to carry out an ‘access audit' to make sure you are complying.
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
This requires the ‘responsible person' of non-domestic premises and common parts of multi-tenanted residential accommodation to have a fire risk assessment carried out by a ‘competent person'.
• Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
If you make any alterations or repairs to the fabric of a Listed Building you will probably need Listed Buildings consent. David Meaden PGDipBldgCons FRICS specialises in conservation.
• The Building Regulations 2000
Most new buildings and alterations need Building Regulations approval. There are some exemptions, notably in agriculture, but an office on a farm, for example, does need Building Regulations approval.
• Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007
This requires the (non-domestic) client of any construction project that will take over 30 days, to appoint a CDM Coordinator to help make sure that the construction process proceeds safely.
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1927
Many leases outline what maintenance and repair the tenant should carry out. A Schedule of condition at the beginning of a lease and a Schedule of dilapidations towards the end allows the Landlord to make sure that the tenant pays for what he is liable for.
• Party Wall etc Act 1996
If you are carrying out work on a shared (party) wall, boundary wall, or excavating within 6m of a neighbouring property you should find out if you need to issue a Notice under the Part Wall etc Act.
In addition to breaking the law, you might come unstuck by thinking, "It'll be alright". Sometimes it will be, but sometimes it won't. Chartered Building Surveyors deal with all things to do with buildings:
• Building Surveys and Building Defects.
Most buildings have something wrong with them. Usually this is something fairly minor, which if identified can be remedied at low cost. If these minor defects are left, however, they can develop into much more serious problems. For example, the thatched house in the photo might have been saved if there had been a smoke alarm in the roof space. A Building Survey would have picked this up.
• Reinstatement valuations for insurance purposes
How much should you insure your buildings for? The only way to know is to have a reinstatement valuation for insurance purposes. Too low a valuation and you won't have sufficient funds to reconstruct, too high and you'll be wasting money on premiums which are too high. The RICS guidance notes state, "Informal assessments ... are impractical and unreliable." Thankfully, the owner of the house in the photo had had such a valuation carried out.
• Design and drawing work
There are many factors to consider when designing a building: daylight, size of rooms, building regulations, etc. Building Surveyors are trained to consider all aspects to produce a building which meets the client's needs. Building Surveyors prepare drawings for feasibility, planning applications, building regulations and tender.
• Construction
Building Surveyors act as Contract Administrators. That is, after the design of a building is complete, they write a specification, prepare tender drawings, go to competitive tender, prepare contracts, monitor the work, value work, and sign off the work when it is complete. Don't leave the construction process to good faith. Good faith only works when both parties have full knowledge of what each is expecting, and without a Contract Administrator, that is unlikely.
Ring David Meaden FRICS or Daniel Sutherland MRICS on 01202