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Discuss Going to be nvq2 but still not allowed to DIY at home? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

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I was hoping for some clarification, I've just moved into our first home, and there a lot I want to do with it. One job is to install a wet room/small corner shower. I am currently employed as a general maintenance guy, and so a lot of plumbing at work. I'm confident I can do all the work needed, but currently I don't hold any qualifications. My employer is going to put me through nvq2 city and guilds soonish. The thing I can't get my head around is that in say 5 years when I want to sell the house and I've installed a new bathroom regardless if I'm nvq2 trained or not the bathroom is still not considered to be installed correctly. It's my understanding that I have to get building regs in to approve all the work. If not I'll have difficulty selling the house is this correct? I know about self certificate but I'm not going to pay huge amounts of money to sign of DIY. My employer would have no benefit for me to have it either. Hope thats clear, thanjs for the advice!
 
I'm confident I can do all the work needed, but currently I don't hold any qualifications.

How confident you are in your own ability only matters if you are buying the property. When you are selling it what matters is what the buyer thinks.

The thing I can't get my head around is that in say 5 years when I want to sell the house and I've installed a new bathroom regardless if I'm nvq2 trained or not the bathroom is still not considered to be installed correctly.

What matters are your skills, qualifications and registrations at the time the work is done, not what they may become at a later date.

I'll have difficulty selling the house is this correct? I know about self certificate but I'm not going to pay huge amounts of money to sign of DIY.

You can always sell a house to someone, but the price the purchaser is willing to pay will be reduced. The way things work is that they buyer waits until you think you have a deal and then discovers you don't have the right certificates and drops the price by the cost of ripping out your efforts completely and having the most expensive bathroom fitters in town redo it all from scratch.

If the place is dodgy enough you will only be able to sell to property developers or people who don't need a mortgage. These guys will know you've got little choice and will drive a hard bargain.

So, my advice is to talk to your local building control office and see what they want from you. If you are polite they are often very helpful to DIYer's who want to do the right thing.

It may make more sense to put the wet-room on hold until you are qualified. IMO, it's a good idea to live in a place for a bit before making major changes.
 
Thanks chuck, I'm confident I'm my abilities I've been in constuction/maintenance for many years and have friends that could help out if it goes wrong. It would just be nice to be able to sell the place on in the future without having to negotiate on the price because of the bathroom. We want to add value to the house but if every little job we do needs to be inspected it will cost a fortune! I suppose that's the real world. Any idea how much a small project like installing a shower tray will cost to get a building inspector out for?
Thanks for you advice.
 
We want to add value to the house but if every little job we do needs to be inspected it will cost a fortune! I suppose that's the real world. Any idea how much a small project like installing a shower tray will cost to get a building inspector out for?

IIRC there are normally two charges 'a plan charge' and an 'inspection charge'. Check your local council's BC website. My guess is about ÂŁ250 for what's known as 'formation of a new bathroom'. If you have several jobs together there is usually some sort of discount.
 
Why not just ring local Building Control, and ask what you can alter and replace without any need to get them involved ,

In read on the building portal that swapping like for like is ok, but moving a waste pipe will need inspection, but it's hard to find any information in how much it will cost to inspect .Yes your right I'll have to call ,every time I want to do something
 
Not sure you need to worry too much. It's only really gas, electrics and drainage that needs the right ticket and/or notifying to BC. The main work of a bathroom (tiling, pipework, fitting suite, etc, etc) can be done by anyone.

The only thing that may cause problems when selling is if the work looks sub standard.
 
Need a sense of humour. First thing I thought of was the same as Phil.
 
If your confident you can do it then do it bud you dont need to get building control involved , your not doing structural work and there must be some form of drainage there already. Cheers kop
 
If your confident you can do it then do it bud you dont need to get building control involved , your not doing structural work and there must be some form of drainage there already. Cheers kop

Not strictly correct all depends what's there at the minute. Quick word with building control will sort it either way.
 
I am doing one right now the only thing we needed was a inspection on the new underground drain run before back filling and obviously built to building regs I will post a picture once complete, kop
 
As I say I'm completely confident in my abilities, buy as I say the planning portal pretty much say I can swap like for like and decorate but not add new waste pipe/ drainage workout an inspection. When we come to sell it will be obvious we have a nice new bathroom with a wet room shower, as things would need moving around. We will either have to negotiate a lower the price , I/them pay for an inspection or there is some special insurance thing either them or I can get. It seems ridiculous that anything considered diy needs inspection and to be paid for so as to allow selling a house, regardless of who put it in , a qualified plumber or not it still needs signing off!
Sorry about the rant!
 
Some buyers will find every possible excuse to push the price down, but other buyers won't. In fairness, it's sometimes a matter of bluffing as all a buyer can possibly expect is to get the house at a fair price. A relative of mine recently sold a house she had owned for nearly 30 years and it had had DIY electrical work and DIY plumbing work, but she had no trouble selling as the buyer knew that it would be difficult to find such a good house for the money involved. Certainly the place was worth no less than had it been maintained exactly as originally purchased and so was not slapped with the 'in need of modernisation' badge.

That said, if you're planning to install a new luxury suite where there obviously wasn't one before, then, having DIYed it, questions will be called into your competence and how well the work was done and then building control sign off might be desirable. Especially if you're actually planning to sell the house and want to make the new bathroom a selling point.

If, on the other hand, you currently have a tired bathroom and are simply rearranging the waste branches from the appliances to the SVP and renewing the tiling and appliances, then, in 5 years or whatever, you don't even need to make a thing about it being a new bathroom or otherwise, but it will be appreciated as a nice room. You probably won't add monetary value over the clean and functional bathroom that is there already, but a nice bathroom is always a bonus and the age probably won't even come up as the bathroom has always been in that room. And I would be highly surprised if anyone would be able to know - or care - how old the waste branches are, and if they have been changed.

That said, I do feel that, even though my theory was quite good before I did my NVQ, I would do a better job now than I would have then. Not so much because of what the course itself teaches you, as to having asked all and sundry difficult questions while I was studying.

I'm not sure having the NVQ2 paperwork itself makes much difference either way as to become an approved plumber for Water Regulations (i.e. water supply side only) you'd need NVQ2 plus Water Regulations (but level 3 is really considered the gold standard). And, even then I am not aware of any qualification that makes someone able to sign off an additional bathroom as a competent person without involving BC. The fact that the work is DIY or not is not what makes it notifiable!

As others have said, have a chat with building control and find out what they would charge. Get an electrician in for electrics and get certificates. And bear in mind that, at present, the value of a house is largely dictated by its location.
 
Thanks RIC, u made some good points, think I'll hold off on the project for , and seek more advice and options and hopefully start in the summer.
Cheers.
 
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