Soakage pit

annemarieR

We are getting an extension carried out on our house at present. We paid engineers to do the drawings, carry out site visits, complete a snag list and certification. The latter two items have not yet been completed. The council told our builder that a separate soakway was necessary for the drain water as it can not be mixed with the foul water. We have now been charged €500 for the design of this soakway by the engineers and €5680 from the builder for building the soakway. I am just wondering is this something that should have been part of the design first day or are they correct to be charging us extra for this now?

BryanF

Were the tender drawings completed and issued to the builder before planning conditions were known?

Were the planning conditions issued to The builder prior to award?

Who is the contract administrator?

xl500

Are you saying in the orignal design Foul Water and surface water were discharging in same waste if so that is wrong and whoever designed that should be responsible for putting it right

Gumbo

xl500 wrote: »

Are you saying in the orignal design Foul Water and surface water were discharging in same waste if so that is wrong and whoever designed that should be responsible for putting it right

From a Planning point of view you can lodge showing them combined with a dead leg from the final surface water Man Hole for future upgrade. If the council allow it, then this is how you proceed.

But, if there's a condition to place a soak away for the surface water, then the home owner may not have passed this info onto the builder.

Some info required with regards to :
Who prepared the Construction Drawings?
Who was inspecting the works to ensure compliance with Building and Planning Regulations?

Some key phrases in the OP jumping out at me....

The council told our builder that a separate soak away was necessary

Usually the Council tell the Applicant by way of condition, not the builder.

sydthebeat

nearly €6000 for a soakaway is mental

annemarieR

Thanks for your response. The planning conditions were known to the engineers. They drew up the plans and sent the job out to tender. They did not include the soakway. Is the onus on us / the engineers/ the builders to make sure the drawings include all the planning conditions? The engineers signed all the BCMS documents and carried out all the BCMS related works. Whether or not that makes them the contract administrator I’m not sure. The building contract was signed between us and the builder in their office.

Best regards,

annemarieR

Thanks for your reply

Gumbo

annemarieR wrote: »

Thanks for your response. The planning conditions were known to the engineers. They drew up the plans and sent the job out to tender. They did not include the soakway. Is the onus on us / the engineers/ the builders to make sure the drawings include all the planning conditions? The engineers signed all the BCMS documents and carried out all the BCMS related works. Whether or not that makes them the contract administrator I’m not sure. The building contract was signed between us and the builder in their office.

Best regards,

Whoever is to blame, its not the builder in this case. He priced for what was tendered.

The blame lies with the client/Professional on missing out on the soak away unfortunately in my opinion. How you remedy this now is a good talk between you, the certifier and the builder to see if you can all come to some arrangement.

DOCARCH

sydthebeat wrote: »

nearly €6000 for a soakaway is mental

Agreed.

For domestic, in tenders, I typically see E 1,250/E 1,500 + VAT for a soakaway (to BRE 365).