sewage question

[5544]

I am in the process of going through building control regarding a side extension at my house. In response to my application i have had a 25 point letter requesting clarifications!

one issue is a drain inspection hatch which is currently on the drive where the extension is going to go on the side of the house. The soil pipe is a clay standard domestic (i think 6"?), and the drain run starts at the neighbours next door which is two metres away. With the build of the extension i would just like to have a vapour sealed inspection hatch on the utility room floor which is where the extension will be going. Moving the drain access is not an option due to location difficulties.

building control have stated that at the very least, that i will have to take the footings deeper than the lowest point of the drain, (which is standard), but, are Southern water going to allow me to do the above. anyone had experiences of a similar set of circumstances?

 

[SimonG]

Sounds pretty standard to me, but if it was mine I'd be looking to reroute the sewer as I wouldn't be keen on a manhole within the house. But that's just my preference.

 

[snowhead]

There's no regs to stop internal chambers.
However as a minimum it would be better to create a new junction / inspection chamber outside the extension if the main run from nextdoor can't be moved sideways.

 

[Reg Man]

Foundation should be below the level of the invert of the drain. Take it above and there is a risk of the drain breaking. Lintel across the top of the drain good practice. Mahole cover inside the building must be a double sealed bolted airtight cover.

 

[Reg Man]

You can down load Part H building regulations from The Deparment for communities and Local goverment web site free of charge. It tells you what is acceptable in the foul drainage section.

 

[5544]

Well I have now been told by southern water, that since it is a drain that is shared with the neighbour, that they would not allow an internal inspection hatch. Since it has a multitude of pipes going to it, it cannot be moved I'm buggered. £600.00 down the drain on planning!

 

[snowhead]

Can you post a sketch of the pipe layout, there's always a way to re route them.

You don't neccessarilly need a chamber, you just need rodding, jetting access to all branches.

 

[Reg Man]

Well I have now been told by southern water, that since it is a drain that is shared with the neighbour, that they would not allow an internal inspection hatch. Since it has a multitude of pipes going to it, it cannot be moved I'm buggered. £600.00 down the drain on planning!

Oops thats not good. Only way then is to reconfigure the drain run if there is room to do it. Get an expert in; there is nearly always a solution.

 

[5544]

well i am hopeless in trying to add picture to this. basically i share a driveway with a neighbour. the drive is 4.8mtrs wide. the drain starts at the neighbours, and runs straight across the drive to an inspection hatch in the centre of my half of the drive, then under an existing extension on my house. 1 mtr to the north of the drain is a shared twin set of garages, one for each of us. There are three pipes going into the inspection chamber apart from the main run. One from a rear drain that comes from the rear of the house, and through the garage to the inspection chamber, and two from the front side of my house which come from two soil down pipes from bathrooms. the extension i have already had planning for, would basically mean knocking down my garage and building a second reception room, and them moving the garage in front, and onto my half of the drive along side my house. That means that the inspection chamber would be inside my property. hope that makes sense. I have already asked the neighbour and he is happy to have the chamber on his drive, but i cannot see how the drainage would still work, and it would mean digging up all the drive in that area.

 

[Reg Man]

So the drain serves just you and your neighbours properties. I should call on your neighbours good will and re-route the drain run down his drive or on the boundary line. Will have to encase pipes in concrete if its within 1 metre of the foundations. Its probably more work than you wished, but this will be a better job.

 

[lame plumber]

basically its bucket and spade and a decent level, with the help of a good ground worker.

 

[Keefy]

Well I have now been told by southern water, that since it is a drain that is shared with the neighbour, that they would not allow an internal inspection hatch. Since it has a multitude of pipes going to it, it cannot be moved I'm buggered. £600.00 down the drain on planning!

Who did the planning? Surely they should have took this into consideration?

 

[stevetheplumber]

worst way youll have to remove the chamber and provide rodding access on all pipes but theres plenty of extentions with drains running below so this isnt insurmountable can you not meet with building control to see whats acceptable to them

 

[snowhead]

I suspect that now Water companies have responsibility for common drains, that they will be objecting to the forming of all internal common drain chambers on the grounds they won't have easy access to them.
It'll be their payback for having said responsibility forced on them.

But even in the O.P case I can't see that it's an impossible situation to overcome.

 

[5544]

Well the final result is, that I spoke to a really helpful chap at the water company. I have had to pay nearly £900.00 to apply to remove the drain, which I would have to do myself, which they might still say no to. Some provisos are that I re fit all pipework with approved material and ends, and rodding points at each section outside the property. I will wait in hope. I don't fancy loosing £900.00, on top of all the planning costs already incurred. Can't blame the water company, this is a result of yet more control by government!

 

[Reg Man]

Not government control. Its about access incase of a blockage. If neighbours drain or anyone else's blocks up, they don't want to be knocking on your door to get to the manhole or rodding eye to gain access to unblock the stinking thing. Glad you have a way forward though.

 

[Dannypipe]

I had this exact problem recently (December last year).

The difference was that the manhole was already in the house! A standard manhole too, in the kitchen extension and sited under the fridge.

Would have been interesting if next door had a blockage (raw sewage all over the kitchen floor).

My quote was to move the soil pipe. It meant digging a 4 metre trench (and all the fun that comes with that to stop collapse and ensure safety) as the garden was running uphill.

Anyway, I didn't win the work. The building firm who are doing the extension undercut me, and it is now their problem.

It’s amazing what people have got away with in the past. I guess it's a good thing that building control are stopping people taking shortcuts these days.

 

[Reg Man]

I came across a cast iron loose single manhole cover in an indian restaurant kitchen they had problems because the drain was very shallow and had no fall. Anyway I unblocked it and told them it required changing with the minimum of a double air tight cover. They then querried my invoice, I had given my rates before the work, but obviously this was something they did'nt understand. Gave them 2 weeks to pay me constantly getting fobbed off. In the end I got fed up, went enviromental health who shut the business down. They then had the nerve to come back to me and ask me to quote for the remidial work. on your bike mate:83: