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Just when you thought the changes affecting our industry were done, dusted and out of the way for the next few years, here comes another one!
From 1st October this year, it is going to be against the law for conservatories or orangeries to be built over or near to sewers. The reason? From 1st October all privately owned sewers are going to be adopted by the local water companies. It is estimated that there are about 125,000 miles of privately owned sewers, affecting about 10 million households.
What is the reason for this change? The Government want the water companies to be responsible for all the sewers in the country. The companies will then be responsible for any repair work, so that the homeowner doesn’t have to foot the bill.
But this is going to create some logistical problems when it comes to extensions, conservatories or orangeries. You’re not going to be allowed to install trap doors in the flooring as far I’m aware. In some cases you will be able to re-route the pipework away from the work area to get round the ruling. The downside to the customer having the work done will be the extra cost. It won’t be a great deal extra, but in a time of austerity people are penny pinching down to the nearest pound!
But there will be some cases where re-routing the pipework just isn’t an option i.e. if the structure is going to take up a lot of the garden space and it doesn’t leave much room for the pipes. Hopefully these circumstances will make up the minority of cases.
So, get your plans in, start the building work and get your projects complete before the start of October!
A helpful Q and A site can be found here.
From 1st October this year, it is going to be against the law for conservatories or orangeries to be built over or near to sewers. The reason? From 1st October all privately owned sewers are going to be adopted by the local water companies. It is estimated that there are about 125,000 miles of privately owned sewers, affecting about 10 million households.
What is the reason for this change? The Government want the water companies to be responsible for all the sewers in the country. The companies will then be responsible for any repair work, so that the homeowner doesn’t have to foot the bill.
But this is going to create some logistical problems when it comes to extensions, conservatories or orangeries. You’re not going to be allowed to install trap doors in the flooring as far I’m aware. In some cases you will be able to re-route the pipework away from the work area to get round the ruling. The downside to the customer having the work done will be the extra cost. It won’t be a great deal extra, but in a time of austerity people are penny pinching down to the nearest pound!
But there will be some cases where re-routing the pipework just isn’t an option i.e. if the structure is going to take up a lot of the garden space and it doesn’t leave much room for the pipes. Hopefully these circumstances will make up the minority of cases.
So, get your plans in, start the building work and get your projects complete before the start of October!
A helpful Q and A site can be found here.
>I have had this looked in to and have received the following email: Hi David I have looked into the impact of the change in the legislation affecting work to public sewers. A very significant change is due to take place in October (providing this does not change) that will result in drains that serve more than 1 property becoming the property of the water authorities and therefore will require approval from the water authotity wherever work is being carried out within 3m of a drain that serves more than 1 property. This will mean that approval will be required… Read more »
>DGB, I think this may be a much bigger threat to our industry than first thought. If the legislation goes ahead (its not been passed through Parliament yet) and as nearly all conservatories will need Water Authority approval with CCTV, drawings etc.. at substantial costs to consumers, the Water Authorities will be receiving 1000's of applications per week and the industry is likely to come to a standstill. Do you know if the GGF is officially opposing this? We're not a member so I can't ask them.
>I agree David. We're not GGF members either, but I can always write an open letter to them, post it on here and ask for a response.
This new legislation could quite easily create a back log and like you say, these extra costs involved in complying with the new laws will certainly put potential customers off.
>I have asked RCG to query this with the GGF (which he kindly has done already) and I'll let you have any response I receive.
>Thanks David. I'm also in the middle of writing an open letter on here to them, asking them to respond on here to both the Tesco Windows story and the new sewer rules.
>According to the GGF, nothing can be done about this in the foreseeable future, therefore all conservatories built after 1st October will need Water Authority Approval, every time.