Soakaway and building regs - any experts?
Discussion
Hi all
Our house was built in 1980ish and now has a completely blocked soakaway in the back garden which we are looking to replace and ideally we wanted to relocate it further away from a tree which is under TPO. However, the main issue is that looking at the building regs (5m from any building and 2.5m from the boundary) there isn't any suitable location (even the site of the existing one) due to the size and shape of our garden and proximity to neighbours and a road! Has anyone solved this before or should my first step be bite the bullet and contact the local building control department?
I wonder if there might be any condition where an existing one can be repaired even if the location is not now compliant. Just trying to get ahead of the inevitable red tape and issues!
Thanks in advance
Andy
Our house was built in 1980ish and now has a completely blocked soakaway in the back garden which we are looking to replace and ideally we wanted to relocate it further away from a tree which is under TPO. However, the main issue is that looking at the building regs (5m from any building and 2.5m from the boundary) there isn't any suitable location (even the site of the existing one) due to the size and shape of our garden and proximity to neighbours and a road! Has anyone solved this before or should my first step be bite the bullet and contact the local building control department?
I wonder if there might be any condition where an existing one can be repaired even if the location is not now compliant. Just trying to get ahead of the inevitable red tape and issues!
Thanks in advance
Andy
From previous experience with BC and soakaways/rainwater on various projects I'd be keeping cards close to chest and avoid sticking your head above parapet in anyway possible.
As you've already discovered your responsible to deal with your run off but the rules mean you have no way of doing so in a compliant way. Those two points aren't the BC officers problem, they're yours and yours to sort. We went round in circles for a long time and I've seen some very suspect designs 'passed' by BC because reality has dawned that house plots aren't always big enough to accommodate the rules they want to enforce.
Tread carefully is my advice
As you've already discovered your responsible to deal with your run off but the rules mean you have no way of doing so in a compliant way. Those two points aren't the BC officers problem, they're yours and yours to sort. We went round in circles for a long time and I've seen some very suspect designs 'passed' by BC because reality has dawned that house plots aren't always big enough to accommodate the rules they want to enforce.
Tread carefully is my advice
sfella said:
From previous experience with BC and soakaways/rainwater on various projects I'd be keeping cards close to chest and avoid sticking your head above parapet in anyway possible.
As you've already discovered your responsible to deal with your run off but the rules mean you have no way of doing so in a compliant way. Those two points aren't the BC officers problem, they're yours and yours to sort. We went round in circles for a long time and I've seen some very suspect designs 'passed' by BC because reality has dawned that house plots aren't always big enough to accommodate the rules they want to enforce.
Tread carefully is my advice
Our extension / refurb plans had the whole house's rainwater going to a soakaway, as the house is built gable end to the road. The BC took one look at the ground conditions where the foundations had been dug and told the builder to forget using a soakaway and to put the rainwater into the foul water drain. I wouldn't mind, but there's also a parallel surface drain across the garden but we have no manhole for it.As you've already discovered your responsible to deal with your run off but the rules mean you have no way of doing so in a compliant way. Those two points aren't the BC officers problem, they're yours and yours to sort. We went round in circles for a long time and I've seen some very suspect designs 'passed' by BC because reality has dawned that house plots aren't always big enough to accommodate the rules they want to enforce.
Tread carefully is my advice
Of course once the builder had been told that there was no way he was going to muck around connecting to the surface drain.
Sheepshanks said:
Of course once the builder had been told that there was no way he was going to muck around connecting to the surface drain.
We've recently completed a scheme where we legally (and I mean 100% legally) connected into the adjacent foul main.Last month the sewer backed up and flooded our building with effluent. Investigations are underway but it's known muppets upstream have connected surface to foul...
Our bill will run into 100k+
Sheepshanks said:
Our extension / refurb plans had the whole house's rainwater going to a soakaway, as the house is built gable end to the road. The BC took one look at the ground conditions where the foundations had been dug and told the builder to forget using a soakaway and to put the rainwater into the foul water drain. I wouldn't mind, but there's also a parallel surface drain across the garden but we have no manhole for it.
Of course once the builder had been told that there was no way he was going to muck around connecting to the surface drain.
When I tried that I was told that the decision was the Water Company's to make rather than BC. (And they didn't allow it).Of course once the builder had been told that there was no way he was going to muck around connecting to the surface drain.
Thanks for all the replies so far - sorry I should have said this is part of some bigger works going on that need PP and BC so not sure I will be able to get away with getting it done and not getting it signed off? I can get 5 metres away from all buildings easily but then its too close to the boundary and a road due to the site layout.
From what I can make out from the plans the front downpipe runs into a shared sewer that then runs into what I assume is a surface sewer on the road. Though its unclear like most sewer maps... If there is a surface sewer there then it will pass close to us in multiple locations - I wonder if an alternative is to connect either to the shared sewer or to the main surface sewer instead though I assume both of these options are not going to be as cheap as a soakaway!
I don't suppose there is any way to get all the rainwater from the roof down one drain pipe? I am assuming not as it would seem far too straight forwards and I can't imagine how you would deal with the corners and the gable end run...
From what I can make out from the plans the front downpipe runs into a shared sewer that then runs into what I assume is a surface sewer on the road. Though its unclear like most sewer maps... If there is a surface sewer there then it will pass close to us in multiple locations - I wonder if an alternative is to connect either to the shared sewer or to the main surface sewer instead though I assume both of these options are not going to be as cheap as a soakaway!
I don't suppose there is any way to get all the rainwater from the roof down one drain pipe? I am assuming not as it would seem far too straight forwards and I can't imagine how you would deal with the corners and the gable end run...
wolfracesonic said:
Slightly O/T but how do all the soakaways installed in peoples driveways as part of SUDS compliance comply with the 5m/2.5m rule? I suspect the majority of properties would struggle to maintain that degree of separation.
I wonder if this is because they are generally replacing a garden - so if you go for a permeable driveway its just like for like?I have an interesting situation regarding soakaway sewer connections.
A neighbouring plot to my house has been sold to a developer.
The passed pp plans show a limited flow surface water soakaway overflow pipe connection running from the plot into a surface water 225 mm diameter public surface water sewer in the road.
The connection pipe runs over a segment of my land.
I pointed this out when the pp application was being considered but was ignored.
I've pointed it out to the developer and have been told that the water Company can force me to allow access to place this pipe under my land.
There was mention of a small amount of money in compensation.
Can I be forced to have a soakaway pipe run under my land?
I know that a main foul water sewer connection can be forced under the Water Act.
But can a soakaway overflow pipe connection be forced?
A neighbouring plot to my house has been sold to a developer.
The passed pp plans show a limited flow surface water soakaway overflow pipe connection running from the plot into a surface water 225 mm diameter public surface water sewer in the road.
The connection pipe runs over a segment of my land.
I pointed this out when the pp application was being considered but was ignored.
I've pointed it out to the developer and have been told that the water Company can force me to allow access to place this pipe under my land.
There was mention of a small amount of money in compensation.
Can I be forced to have a soakaway pipe run under my land?
I know that a main foul water sewer connection can be forced under the Water Act.
But can a soakaway overflow pipe connection be forced?
andy ted said:
Thanks for all the replies so far - sorry I should have said this is part of some bigger works going on that need PP and BC so not sure I will be able to get away with getting it done and not getting it signed off? I can get 5 metres away from all buildings easily but then its too close to the boundary and a road due to the site layout.
From what I can make out from the plans the front downpipe runs into a shared sewer that then runs into what I assume is a surface sewer on the road. Though its unclear like most sewer maps... If there is a surface sewer there then it will pass close to us in multiple locations - I wonder if an alternative is to connect either to the shared sewer or to the main surface sewer instead though I assume both of these options are not going to be as cheap as a soakaway!
I don't suppose there is any way to get all the rainwater from the roof down one drain pipe? I am assuming not as it would seem far too straight forwards and I can't imagine how you would deal with the corners and the gable end run...
Can you just sort out the existing soakaway before starting the bigger works? As far as building control is concerned you'd be attaching to the existing soakaway.From what I can make out from the plans the front downpipe runs into a shared sewer that then runs into what I assume is a surface sewer on the road. Though its unclear like most sewer maps... If there is a surface sewer there then it will pass close to us in multiple locations - I wonder if an alternative is to connect either to the shared sewer or to the main surface sewer instead though I assume both of these options are not going to be as cheap as a soakaway!
I don't suppose there is any way to get all the rainwater from the roof down one drain pipe? I am assuming not as it would seem far too straight forwards and I can't imagine how you would deal with the corners and the gable end run...
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