Engineer predicament - ideas pls

jayo99

Hey all..

I'm in a bit of a predicament and need opinions/ideas.

I purchased a site and got planning permission on it earlier this year and as I had some savings I started to build and see how far I got before looking for a loan/mortgage to finish the remainder.

I am now at wall plate level and the next step is to get a roofer and I need to organise finance to complete the build. When I went about getting a mortgage the broker said I will need a 6 point letter from an engineer before I can proceed. I have contacted a number of engineers in my area but none of them are willing to provide me with this letter as they did not witness the foundations being poured :-\

Has anyone else found themselves in this position & how did they get around it or does anyone know of an engineer that can assist me?

jayo

kadman

Hi Jayo,

From the engineers point of view, its understandable really. I dont imagine any professional would be willing to put their name to some unknown elements in a construction, I definitely would not. You probably would n't either, if you consider possible ramifications further down the road.

I think its a sort of situation that you have started without some professional guidance regarding both certification, and mortage guidance.

Unless you approach some lending institution, for a loan for a different purpose, as opposed to a mortgage. Or maybe a rich family member..just a thought.

There is definitely a method to test your existing concrete composition, and maybe scan parts of the foundation for steel ect, and this may satisfy some engineer to accommodate you. Other pro's here no doubt have more experience in this type of surveying, and one person's unique detective skills spring to mind, and hopefully he may point you in the right direction.

Good luck

kadman

CJhaughey

The engineer is liable for any future problems if they certify it.
eg: if you sell and the corner of the foundation cracks the purchaser could sue the engineer for passing the building when it was not of sufficient quality.
This would explain the reluctance to become involved.

rooferPete

Hi Jayo,

Did you by any chance take some photos of the new build ? if you did the Engineer may be able to establish you stayed within good building practice.

An option you may have to consider is allowing the Engineer to choose a point or two at random and open up the foundation including underneath the concrete and exposing the foundation to ground level.

Even if the ground warrants use of steel in the foundation you may have to cut the concrete to show the steel.

At that point assuming the Engineer is happy that the foundation is in "Substantial Compliance" with the Building Regulations and Good Building Practice you can underpin the opened areas and complete your building.

The method used in contacting the Engineer could have a bearing on the answer you get, for example a telephone call from a person they never met before would be reason enough to give an automatic "No".

Two questions spring to my mind there is no need to answer them it's just that I would expect an Engineer to think in a similar way :

As you have full Planning Permission why was the original Architect not contracted to oversee the works ?

Did you submit a commencement notice to your local authority ?

A third and possibly not relevent question is did any representative of the local authority call to the site at any time prior to the foundation being poured ?, if they did then you may have an independent witness as to the standard of the work.

I think an appointment to meet with an Engineer and show or describe exactly the method used to determine the depth, width and form of foundation used and an offer to expose the works at his / her chosen points may help.

.

lomb

it shouldnt matter afaik, try another lending institution. provideing the mortgage is less than or equal to the site value the bank should forward the money. so my advice is try someone else. alternatively a family loan should b ok, till its build then u should b able to mortgage it after a kerbside survey.

jayo99

hey all..


Yeah I did take digital photos of every day of the build. I took on average 5 photos a day right from site clearance to the present state. Still any engineer I have contacted has said they don't matter and dismisses them immediately :-(

The reason I did not have the original architect involved was because he was from a different county and it was too far for him to travel. He was a friend of a friend.

Might try a different lending institute as as lomb said. The site alone is worth way more than the mortage I would need to complete the house..

lomb

jayo99 wrote:

Might try a different lending institute as as lomb said. The site alone is worth way more than the mortage I would need to complete the house..

then there will be no problem hopefully, get a valuation on the site and a copy of your planning permission and take it to a bank, i cant see why it would not make excellent security for a mortgage without any house on it even.

jayo99

thx lomb...

last question.. and I know its veeery broad.. but need opinions. what are the most helpful of mortgage lenders.. I need to get one pretty quick as I've wasted a lot of time and don't want to book meetings with time wasters..

Wobs

Hey Jayo,

You should ask a few different engineers regarding the photos. When we were putting in our foundations an engineer from Premier Guarantee was supposed to come out and check the trenches and steel going in etc. He was unable to make it when I needed him, so I went ahead without him checking, we took loads of pictures of what we had done and he said they would be acceptable with a site visit and digging a hole close to the founds to check the type of ground we were building on.

jayo99

Hey Wobs..

You don't by chance have a name and or email address for the person you used from Premier Guarantee by any chance do you ?


Cheers
Jayo

jayo99

Also Wobs,

How much did they charge for their services.. If you rather not post, can you PM it to me pls :-)

rooferPete

Hi Jayo,

What is your location ? I may have the Engineer you require.

.

jayo99

pm-ed u the location rooferpete.

Thx
Jayo

Wobs

Jayo

We ended up not using them in the end, I thought that it was a requirement from the bank to have Homebond or premier guarnatee, turned out they only required the architect to sign off at each stage.

I would be able to give you the name and number of the insurance company who provide Premier, but as for the engineer they used I only spoke to him a couple of times and he rang me on both occasions. I may have his contact details on something that premier sent me out will check it later when I get home.

galwaydude18

An engineer could cerify it and state in the cert that they will not certify the foundations as they did not see the concrete being poured in and the steel tied!