Extensions

Dispute with builder about depth of footings

Anonymous user 01/03/2024 - 3.03 PM

We’ve had a 3m x 2m front porch extension built during the summer, which incorporates a cloakroom. A month after completion, large cracks appeared where the new build joins the house, internally and externally, causing plaster to fall off and the window unable to be opened. We contacted the builders and queried the depth of the footings but they reassured that at 750, they were adequate. We have very wet Oxford clay soil and know the depth should have been at least 1m. We commissioned a structural engineer’s report which indicated that subsidence had occurred. We have submitted letters, using templates from Citizens Advice, asking for either remedial work to be carried out or a partial refund but the builders state they have done nothing wrong and told us that the approved inspector must be to blame as they worked to his instruction. I understand that building inspectors are more or less untouchable, so where do we go from here? Update: spoke to a solicitor specialising in this sort of dispute who said that the legal minimum depth of footing is only 600mm so the approved inspector (not local authority) can’t be touched for negligence. He passed each stage of building. Advised not to go to court as no guarantee the builders will pay up and that we would get our money back. We now have to suck up the cost of resin injection remedy and put it down to a bad experience.