Under English building regulations, does a rainwater drainpipe require grid or a soak-away?
Question:Recently had new guttering etc. Contractor removed original, perfectly good, rain drainpipe, and put in new one, different location, where there is no grid or soakaway. Causing problems with all recent rain, but cant get them to come back. HELP
Answers:
you are not allowed to run a storm drain onto open land ..it is not allowed under the building regs ..if it is a combined system ..that is both foul and storm go into one drain ..then the storm drain MUST have a trapped gully to prevent smells etc ..if the drains are separate then you do not need a trapped gully ..but it is advisable to have one to stop debris from clogging the drain ..if you have a soak away type drain ..then the soak away should be at least 15 metres away from the house .from my experiences a builder the majority of subsidence problems are caused by defective drains ..so do not leave this problem ..get it fixed as soon as you can ..any problems with your builder get in touch with your local building control ..they really will help you
Trading standards...
Yee haw cowboy!
Under building regulations you must stipulate how you will dispose of your drainage
a soakaway is one option, but if you are in a built up area with mains drainage, then building control would usually expect you to put a new gully connected to the existing system.
I think your difficulty is that if you haven't had any structural work done your builder wouldn't need to apply for building regulation approval.
As I see it you have two choices:-
Firstly take pictures of how the builder has left things
then write to him complaining and asking him to put right what he has left with a timescale, also explain that if he doesn't put it right you will employ a second builder to rectify the problem and pursue him for the monies owed.
Your second option is to just pay a builder to alter your gutter so it discharges over the grating and then only employ builders which have been recommended to you and NEVER EVER pay everything you owe the builder until you are completely satisfied (Keep 10% aside until he's complete)
Good luck and chalk this one up to experience.
Consult your local council.
Requirements vary and are under the control of your local authority.
rain water drain pipe should have a soak-away.rain water must go back in to the ground.just had a new conservatory ,and that was one of the requirements under the building regulations. at my last house ,my rain water ran out on to the road .the drain pipe ran down to a gully,in turn that ran to the pavement ,across to the drain. this is breaking the law .something i had to fix .if that water was to freeze i would be libel if someone was to slip over.another reason why i had to sort this problem out is that the rain water of my house was going though the cracks of the gully and causing my house to subside.it was washing the foundations away !!causing cracks in the walls .all around my house .i had to pay the first £1000.00 pound and it was about £14.000 in total to sort my house out.thank god for insurance.so that is something you need to sort out .may work out alot more money if not
should have a soakaway,under building regs,why did you let him put it there? carnt you get his address,get one of you friends to call him out to anothere address,confront him,take his reg etc,try the nice approach, then if no good do whatever you have to,it would be good on both parties to solve the easy way,tradeing standards love these ones tell him this first,he might be willing to get you outa his hair ! hope this helps. :)
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