Managing the Project
196 sources in the library on managing the project. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 4 of 5.
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Citizens Advice
How to choose and pay an energy efficiency installer. Get quotes from at least 3 different installers to compare cost and specification. An MCS registered installer is mandatory to claim the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and also to use the Smart Export Guarantee, the scheme that pays for exported generation. On payment, the key rule stated is never to agree a deposit of more than 25% up front. Also directs to TrustMark for scheme backed work and covers what to check before signing.
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Citizens Advice
What to do when a builder or supplier folds mid job. A sole trader or partnership that stops trading remains personally liable for paid for work, so the claim follows the individual. For a limited company the customer becomes an unsecured creditor and must register the claim with the appointed insolvency practitioner, ranking behind secured creditors and employees. The practical recoveries are Section 75 where a credit card paid any part of a job costing over £100, chargeback for debit card payments, and a claim on a trade association or insurance backed guarantee if the trader belonged to one.
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Citizens Advice
The consumer route when workmanship is poor. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, so the buyer can ask for it to be done again, ask for a price reduction, or claim the cost of putting it right. The law requires the trader be offered the chance to redo the work first, unless redoing it is impossible, would take an unreasonably long time or would cause significant inconvenience, in which case a discount can be demanded straight away. A redo must be completed within a 'reasonable time', which the Act does not define. The window to ask for things to be put right is up to 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 5 years in Scotland, running from when the fault appears rather than from completion.
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Citizens Advice
What it costs and takes to move a meter during building work. Moving the meter a short distance on the same wall is arranged with the energy supplier; moving it further, or moving the supply itself, has to go through the local electricity or gas network operator, which usually charges at least £400 and can charge over £1,000 depending on the work. Appointments are normally within working hours, meaning roughly 9am to 5pm, in a time slot of 2 to 4 hours. If the supplier misses the appointment or fails to give proper notice, it must pay £40 compensation within 10 working days, and a further £40 if that payment is late.
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Electrical Safety First
Evidence on DIY electrical risk and the boundary of what a householder may do. In a survey of 1,000 electricians, more than 30% had reports of electric shocks caused by incompetent DIY and 15% reported DIY causing an electrical fire. States that higher risk work such as anything in a bathroom or the installation of a new circuit must be carried out, or reviewed and signed off, by a registered competent electrician, and that a lot of domestic electrical work is notifiable so the local authority must be told and the work certified. Recommends periodic inspection at least every 10 years in an owner occupied home and every 5 years in rented accommodation, and a minimum of one smoke alarm per floor with a heat detector in the kitchen, tested weekly.
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Electricity North West
Before breaking ground, check the location of underground services on network plans and then follow safe digging techniques. Underground services are commonly found in roads, footpaths, on sites and across open land; always assume they are present and treat any cable as live. Service cables and pipes are routinely confused, and the specific trap named is that black plastic covered electricity cable looks like plastic water pipe. Network plans are obtained through LinesearchbeforeUdig. The reference safe-digging document is HSE HSG47, Avoiding danger from underground services, which should be read before commencing work on site.
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Electricity North West
The consultation trigger distances for any work near overhead lines: you must consult the line operator if working within 15 metres of overhead lines on steel towers, within nine metres of a wood pole, or beneath an overhead power line. Distances are measured at ground level from a point estimated by eye to be vertically under the outermost conductor at the tower or pole. Treat every overhead line as live; some electricity lines look like communication cables and some poles carry both, so never assume a line is telephone. Never raise poles or other long objects towards a line as a sighting or measuring aid. Where work will encroach, request a site visit: the operator's representative recommends a minimum clearance distance, advises on meeting HSE guidance note GS6, confirms in writing any arrangement to switch the line out, and establishes whether shrouding, sheathing or cable protection is needed. Network plans are requested by email at PlanRequest@enwl.co.uk. GS6 (Avoidance of danger from overhead electric power lines) is the reference guide, ISBN 0717613488, free from the HSE website.
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Energy Ombudsman
The timetable of an energy dispute. The supplier gets 8 weeks to resolve a complaint; the consumer can escalate sooner only if a final decision or deadlock letter arrives. Escalation must happen within 12 months of the deadlock letter. Once registered, if Facilitated Complaints Resolution is not offered or not accepted, the consumer has up to 14 days to supply supporting evidence. A decision normally follows within 6 weeks, longer for complex cases. The Ombudsman decides on the evidence, the law, relevant regulation and accepted good industry practice, and a typical financial award ranges between £50 and £100. Once the consumer accepts, the decision is legally binding on the supplier, which has 28 days to implement the remedies, after which the consumer may pursue the matter in court. The service is free to the consumer. Advises recording complaint dates, call reference numbers and proof of posting.
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Financial Ombudsman Service
The ombudsman's own account of what it sees and how it decides, last updated 24 July 2023, which is a stronger citation than an insurer's marketing page. Confirms that buildings insurance typically responds to accidental damage, weather such as storms, flooding, ground movement such as subsidence, and underground pipes made from pitch fibre. Lists the recurring complaint types: repairs done but the problem not fixed; the insurer insisting on repair where the consumer wants replacement; the insurer deciding the sum insured on buildings or contents is not enough to cover the claim, which it names as underinsurance; the insurer saying the customer carelessly or deliberately failed to give the true rebuild cost of the home or replacement cost of contents and cancelling the policy on that basis; a replacement offered that is not the same as what was lost; and a cash settlement too small to have the repairs done. Links its separate approaches to accidental damage, building warranties, damage to underground pipes, flood damage, gradual damage, home emergency insurance and multiple-occupancy buildings insurance.
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Financial Ombudsman Service
Sets out what happens when an insurer says a homeowner gave wrong information, which is the mechanism behind most declined renovation-related claims, last updated 10 July 2026. Defines misrepresentation as information given carelessly, deliberately or recklessly that was incomplete or misleading, and non-disclosure as leaving out relevant information that was asked about. Lists the insurer's possible remedies: charge more for the policy, retrospectively apply a restriction so an ongoing or future claim is declined, settle a claim proportionately, or avoid the policy so the claim is declined outright. States the legal test the ombudsman applies is the insurer's obligations under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, asking whether the questions were clear and specific, whether the consumer took reasonable care to answer correctly, whether the answer was incorrect or incomplete, and whether the insurer would have acted differently with the correct information. Confirms the complaint route: complain to the firm first, and if it does not send a final response letter within eight weeks, or the response is unsatisfactory, bring the complaint to the ombudsman, whose service is free.
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Financial Ombudsman Service
Explains the average clause, the mechanism that reduces a payout when a home is insured for less than its rebuild cost, last updated 10 July 2026. States that where a policy contains an average clause the insurer may use it so that the policyholder bears a proportion of any loss or damage if the item was insured for less than its replacement value, and that the insurer applies its own formula. Identifies the two grounds on which the ombudsman upholds such complaints: the insurer tried to apply an average clause that is not actually in the policy, and the insurer applied the average clause without ever having asked the consumer to estimate the full value of the buildings or contents. Also covers complaints where the insurer failed to ask the right question, giving the example of an application asking how much cover do you need when what the insurer wanted was the total value of everything in the home, and where the insurer did not make clear that pre-filled parts of an online form had to be checked for accuracy. Confirms the complaint route requires a formal complaint to the firm first, with the ombudsman available if no final response arrives within eight weeks.
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Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman / Dispute Resolution Ombudsman
The eligibility rules for taking a TrustMark registered business to the Ombudsman, in force since 1 September 2020. A complaint is accepted once the business has issued a final response, or once 12 weeks have passed since the first complaint without a satisfactory answer, and after any Scheme Provider ADR has been used. The business must have been TrustMark registered when the work was done and must remain registered through the ADR process. The claim must be for less than £10,000, excluding the purchase price of the goods or services, and must not be before a court, tribunal or other binding ADR. Complaints are refused where the trader is in administration or liquidation or has ceased trading, where the complainant is not a private individual, where a Scheme Provider resolution has already been accepted in full and final settlement, or where the referral is made more than 12 months after the final response letter. The service is free to the consumer and the decision, once accepted by the consumer, binds the business. Dispute Resolution Ombudsman is a full member of the Ombudsman Association and CTSI approved under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015.
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HomeOwners Alliance
Argues for a written contract before a builder starts and lists what it must fix: scope in and out, the price, how and when payments are made, start and completion dates, who obtains and pays for planning permission and building control approval, and confirmation the right insurances are in place before work begins. Recommends the RIBA Domestic Building Contract, 2018 edition, which HomeOwners Alliance endorses, written in plain English for non commercial work including renovations, extensions, maintenance and new build. Its features include guidance notes, flexible payment options, control of completion timing, provisions for delay and cost events, contractor design with a fit for purpose liability option, optional contractor programme and client selected suppliers or subcontractors, a change mechanism with specified timescales, and an option for sectional start and completion.
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HomeOwners Alliance
Which registers to check a trade against and what each actually guarantees. Covers Gas Safe for gas work, competent person schemes for electrics, FENSA and CERTASS for glazing, the Federation of Master Builders, and RIBA Chartered Practices, which must meet RIBA's stated standards of professional practice in quality, customer service and insurance and whose membership can be checked directly. Notes that roofing firms aligned with the NFRC can self certify their work as an all in one service to homeowners, with all domestic work carrying a 10 year warranty, searchable by postcode or name on the NFRC site. Also covers checking insurance, references and Companies House before committing.
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HomeOwners Alliance
HomeOwners Alliance guide by Angela Kerr setting out four questions to decide whether to appoint an architect: whether the project affects the structure, whether you need design help, whether you want the project managed, and whether an architect or an architectural technician is the better fit. States plainly that there is no law requiring a homeowner to employ an architect and that some people complete whole house refurbishments and extensions without one, while an architect gives more security on work affecting the structure and exterior such as an extension, loft conversion, garage conversion or basement conversion. Notes that an architectural designer or technician experienced in small and medium home renovation projects is cheaper to engage, and that a fully qualified architect must be registered with the Architects Registration Board, whose database is publicly accessible. Also flags planning consultants and structural engineers as alternatives for navigating a local planning authority.
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HomeOwners Alliance
A homeowner tendering procedure with the numbers attached. Aim for at least 3 quotes, which means shortlisting at least 5 builders to invite, since some will not respond. Distinguishes an estimate, an informal educated guess, from a quote, a written agreed price fixed unless the specification changes. Allow between two and four weeks for the tender period, confirm by phone who is bidding, and circulate every answer to all tenderers. Tender returns should include public and employers liability insurance evidence, health and safety policy and record, a bank reference, a professional reference such as from an architect, a customer reference, previous work, years established, and whether employees or subcontractors are used. For the contract: consider a 5% retention held to the end to cover snagging, name the contract period and set weekly liquidated damages, typically £250 to £500 a week on an extension, and list provisional sums for unforeseen work.
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Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Sustainability Institute
88 side-by-side fan pressurisation and low-pressure pulse airtightness measurements in existing dwellings of differing age, size, form and construction. Results: across the sample the mean airtightness reported by the two methods differed by only 2 per cent, but for individual homes the difference ranged from minus 84 per cent to plus 67 per cent, so the two tests can give wildly different answers on any one house even though they agree on average. Regulatory context stated: UK Building Regulations set a maximum airtightness of 8 m3/m2/h at 50 Pa for new dwellings, reducing to 5 m3/m2/h at 50 Pa or less in 2025 with the Future Homes and Buildings Standard; compliance is demonstrated by fan pressurisation or the newer low-pressure pulse test as set out in CIBSE TM23:2022. There is no maximum airtightness requirement when refurbishing an existing dwelling, though both methods are being used to inform retrofit, and existing homes have more varied and complex leakage paths than new build.
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Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Sustainability Institute
Field trials plus thermal modelling (Brooke-Peat and Glew, 2021) showing that insulating one house internally can push a damp problem next door. Adding IWI reduces heat transfer from the room into the external wall, so the external wall behind the insulation becomes colder than the neighbour's uninsulated wall; heat then flows towards the colder side, and surface temperatures fall not only behind the insulation but also in the adjacent dwelling around the party wall junction, raising the risk of mould growth and surface condensation in a neighbouring property that has had no work done. The paper notes the legal as well as health implications, and that standard thermal modelling conventions do not cover thermally asymmetric party wall junctions, so the modelling had to split heat flow and surface temperature for each dwelling separately, using linear thermal transmittance (psi-value) and temperature factor (fRsi). Context figures: roughly 10 per cent of UK households are in fuel poverty, rising to 16 per cent of households in uninsulated solid walled homes, and only 7 per cent of ECO measures have been solid wall insulation.
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London Fire Brigade
How to plan escape from a house or converted flat, which bears directly on loft conversion and window specification. The rule is get out, stay out, call 999 as soon as it is safe. The primary route is the normal way in and out; a second route must be planned in case the first is blocked, and windows are named as that alternative. Door and window keys must be kept where everyone can find them, and security gates or shutters must open from the inside without a key. Cites LFB's average response time in 2016/17 of 5 minutes 25 seconds, and that in nearly half of all fire deaths in 2015/16 there was a delay of 10 minutes or more between the fire starting and the Brigade being called. Around 60% of home fires start in the kitchen.
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MoneyHelper (Money and Pensions Service)
Four step method for funding a renovation from the government backed money guidance body. Step one: list everything wanted and ask for written quotes rather than estimates, drawing the distinction that a quotation is an agreed fixed price while an estimate is an approximate price that can change; get at least three quotes, compare them in detail, check reviews, and insist on a written costed agreement, with any extra work priced in a written estimate and a revised costed schedule before it is authorised. Step two: pay from savings where possible while keeping a reserve for unexpected costs. Step three: compare the total cost of borrowing over the shortest period, not just the headline rate, and note that a 0% purchase or balance transfer credit card suits small jobs, that tradespeople may not take cards, and that card purchases of parts can attract Section 75 protection. Step four: use the EPC to identify improvements, and check the Warm Homes local grant, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for heat pumps and biomass, Warmer Homes Scotland (owned or privately rented for at least a year plus qualifying benefits, with an interest free loan alternative), and the Welsh Nest scheme. States that owner occupiers and private tenants with a household income below £23,000 may qualify for grants of up to £7,500, or even £10,000, towards insulation, heating and window glazing.
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National Grid Electricity Distribution
Contains the rules on where a meter may sit and two fully worked cost examples. Permissible meter locations: in an external meter box (recommended), inside the property on an external wall, or in a suitable weatherproof meter cubicle; the cubicle detail is 1.5m high by 0.6m wide by 0.45m deep, and the internal-wall position allows 1,250mm by 550mm. Meters must not be located inside a dustbin, coal or refuse store, above doorways, in a bathroom, toilet or shower room, in a basement or cellar, under stairs where headroom is less than 2m, on plasterboard or drywall partition walls, close to a water source that could damage the equipment or cause an electrocution risk, or anywhere in breach of BS 7671. A surface mounted meter box protrudes 230mm from the wall, so check it will not obstruct or be damaged; a flush fit box is best built into new brickwork. Once the works are complete the meter box and cable guard become the customer's property to maintain. Worked example 1, overhead supply: overhead re-connection £1,091 plus £182 plus £91, no trench, total £1,364. Worked example 2, underground supply, customer excavation: underground re-connection £980 plus 10m of cable at £26/m (£260), total £1,240; the same job with NGED excavation: underground re-connection £2,437 plus £260 of cable plus 5m grass trench at £83/m (£415) plus 5m tarmac trench at £169/m (£845), total £3,957. A joint hole is needed to expose the existing cable, with at least 200mm of excavated ground below the cable, and warning tape is laid 75mm above the cable depth. Preparatory work such as installing the meter box must be finished before the visit or the job may be cancelled and an aborted visit charged. Bespoke offers are needed to move a three phase supply, to replace an overhead cable with an underground one, for routes crossing third party land, and for routes needing traffic lights or road closures.
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National Grid Electricity Distribution
If the meter is only moving a short distance with no change to the supply cables, the job belongs to the electricity supplier, who is the legal owner of the meter, and the DNO is not involved at all. Where the supply cable does move, the customer must arrange for the supplier to move the meter on the same day National Grid moves the supply, and must have an electrician attend to connect the supply internally. National Grid checks whether the route crosses neighbouring land and obtains landowner permission where it does. Works are normally completed within 90 days of acceptance and payment. Customers managing their own trenchworks are warned about the risk of digging in the garden and under the house near existing electricity, gas, water and telephone services.
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NI Water
The single entry point for Northern Ireland connection and asset work, listing the applications a homeowner or small developer actually needs: record requests and a site visit to confirm a connection; pre-development enquiry for a single unit, multi unit or commercial scheme; impact assessments including odour assessment; wastewater capacity information; Article 161 applications; new connections; trade effluent and septic tanks; and lead pipe replacement or separation of supply. Charges are set out in the Developer Services Summary Scheme of Charges 2026/27. A practical warning is given that an application posted with insufficient postage is held at the Post Office, NI Water will not pay the shortfall and has no way to notify the customer, so postal applications should be correctly stamped.
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NIE Networks
Splits an electricity alteration in Northern Ireland into jobs NIE Networks does and jobs the customer's own electrician must do. NIE Networks moves poles, stays, mini-pillar cabinets, manhole chambers, and underground or overhead cables, and relocates the meter itself. The customer or their electrician must install the new cubicle, the backboard, the incoming hockey stick duct, and the meter tails into the premises. NIE Networks will not replace a meter backboard or a meter box (cubicle): the electrician does that, and NIE Networks temporarily turns off the power to allow it, which is built into the design so a separate temporary disconnection application is not needed. Process: apply online with a registered account, then a quotation pack sets out costs and responsibilities, and the customer has 90 days to accept, sign the offer documents and pay. Customer-side preparation such as trench excavation or installing the new meter box must be finished first, and if the site is not ready the start date is delayed.
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Northern Gas Networks
The three reconnection options after a meter move, which decide whether you also need to book your own Gas Safe engineer. Full reconnection: NGN disconnects the meter, moves it and reconnects internal pipework and appliances, available only where no more than 2 metres of internal (copper outlet) pipework is required, and a representative may visit first to confirm. Partial reconnection: NGN moves the meter but does not reconnect internal pipework, which applies where more than 2 metres of internal pipework is needed, and the customer must arrange a Gas Safe registered engineer. No reconnection: NGN moves neither meter nor connections, which applies when changing to or from a semi-concealed meter box or when the customer is arranging reconnection separately; in that case an Ofgem Approved Meter Installer (OAMI) is needed to reconnect the meter to the service pipe. Customers can opt to do their own excavations or install the meter boxes, but that must be done before the planned start date. Connections Team 0800 040 7766 option 2. Annual gas load is calculated as hourly gas load x usage hours per day x usage days per week x usage weeks per year.
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Northern Gas Networks
Timescales and the easement trap. After acceptance and payment NGN has up to 20 working days to review the works and contact the customer with a proposed start date. Reinstatement of most surfaces takes up to 5 working days after the pipe work finishes. Where a gas main or pipeline must be laid, a legal easement has to be granted first: the easement strip carries restrictions, and specifically buildings cannot be placed over the strip; the process runs between NGN's solicitors and the customer's, the easement is registrable at the Land Registry, and the legal process takes on average 4 to 8 weeks. Moving the position of a meter or the service pipe is not DIY work; the Connections team handles quotation, design, alteration and reconnection, and a separate advice route exists for diverting a gas main.
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Northern Ireland Water
NORTHERN IRELAND. NI Water requires a Building Over or Near a Public Sewer Agreement, and its conditions go beyond the England build-over agreement. Drawings must be at a scale of 1:100 or greater and colour code existing public sewers, foul in red, storm in green and combined in magenta, with private drainage in black, plus longitudinal sections showing pipe size, gradient, material, manholes and invert and cover levels to Ordnance Datum Belfast. Where building over the sewer, ONLY SUSPENDED CONCRETE FLOORS are permissible if a concrete floor is proposed. A method statement is required whether or not the pipe is being replaced, and NI Water may require a Structural Engineer's Report at the developer's expense. Critically, where there is any loan or mortgage on the property the LENDER MUST SIGN the agreement before it is returned, and the applicant must hold and provide current home insurance including buildings cover. No work may start until the agreement is authorised and returned. Applications are triaged before payment is requested, and third and subsequent applications on the same sewer leg attract a discount under the Scheme of Charges.
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Northern Powergrid
Northern Powergrid's published indicative connection costs and timescales, all excluding VAT. Service alteration (moving an existing supply): quotation guaranteed standard 5 days, actual average 4 days, prices from £661 single phase, average £1,000 single phase underground, average 6 weeks to connect after payment. One standard (single domestic) connection: quotation standard 5 days, average 3 days, from £1,300, average £2,500 where no LV mains cable is required, 6 weeks to connect after payment. Up to four standard connections: quotation standard 15 days, average 6 days, from £6,800, average £7,900, 10 weeks. Over four standard connections (based on six premises): quotation standard 25 days, average 27 days, from £4,100, average £14,100, 23 weeks. Unmetered connections: quotation standard 25 days, average 9 days, from £700, average £8,400, 12 weeks. Typical small business connection: from £1,900 for a single premises, average £18,100, 24 weeks. Typical large business connection: from £2,700, average £78,500, 50 weeks. EHV connections: price on application, roughly 2 years to connect.
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Northern Powergrid
Sets out exactly who owns what at the incoming supply, which is the single most misunderstood point in a rewire or extension. Northern Powergrid owns and is responsible for the service cable, the cut-out (service fuse unit) and the meter board; the energy supplier owns the meter, the timeswitch and the double-insulated cables between cut-out and meter; the homeowner owns the tails from meter to fusebox, the switchfuse and the consumer unit. Northern Powergrid will expose and cut the service cable, live joint it, reposition the cut-out, test and energise, and recover redundant equipment, but explicitly will not alter your wiring or move the meter, which must be arranged separately with the electricity supplier. The customer must install the outside meter cabinet, service duct, hockey stick and tile tape before the crew arrives. Technical requirements: ducts to ENATS 12-24, black and embossed 'Electric Cable Duct'; meter cabinets to ENATS 12-23; service ducts for 230V single conductors 38mm (125mm for three phase), smooth outer wall, uPVC or HDPE; 150mm wide tile tape laid 75mm above service ducting or 100mm above mains ducting to satisfy the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002; duct laid so the top is 450mm (18 inches) below pathways and 600mm (24 inches) under driveways. Wrong ducting or missing tile tape means the crew will refuse to lay the cable and the connection is delayed. Freephone 0800 011 3332.
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Northern Powergrid
The split of duties when a supply has to move for an extension or a new kitchen wall. Northern Powergrid moves the service cable and the mains fuse; the electricity supplier moves the meter, and the customer must arrange for the supplier to attend on the day the network work is done; a qualified electrician must do any work on the customer's own internal wiring. Cost varies with the service required, the complexity of the work, and how and where the connection is made, and the company points customers to its published guide prices and timescales rather than quoting a flat rate.
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Northern Powergrid
Practical safety services a builder can actually book. Northern Powergrid installs shrouding on overhead lines where work will take place close to them, and offers a fast-track service for a fee under which the shrouding is completed within two working days, which matters when scaffolding or roof work is already programmed. Overgrown trees and plants near overhead lines are treated as a safety hazard and vegetation can be reported for trimming free of charge. The company also runs a live power cut map giving real-time restoration updates and a route to report a power cut.
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Northumbrian Water
Three routes to consent for building over or within 3 metres of a sewer: the build meets the consent criteria; minor alterations are made to the network so that it does; or the build falls outside the criteria and a formal legal agreement or a payment in lieu is required. Typical criteria failures named are existing pipework deeper than 2m or an internal diameter larger than 150mm. Option 1, the Building Over Indemnity Undertaking, is a signed and witnessed legal agreement giving Northumbrian Water the right to move all or part of the building for future sewer repair without paying compensation, fee £431.00. Option 2, payment in lieu, buys the same right but with Northumbrian Water fully reinstating the building at its own cost, charged by floor area used for building regulations purposes: under 6 sq m £582 single storey / £966 two storey; 6 to under 10 sq m £682 / £1,165; 10 to under 15 sq m £812 / £1,355; 15 to under 20 sq m £930 / £1,551; 20 to under 30 sq m £1,045 / £1,745; 30 to under 40 sq m £1,167 / £1,939; 40 sq m or over £1,794 / £2,920. A CCTV survey is normally carried out within 15 working days of receiving the completed form and is paid for by the applicant. Minor alterations on small diameter sewers less than 1.05m deep may be done by the homeowner's own builder after an initial site visit, with 48 hours notice for inspection before anything is covered over, fee £120.00; deeper sewers or those over 150mm diameter must be altered by Northumbrian Water's contractors against an estimate agreed in advance. Payments on 0345 850 0514 quoting reference BOS plus house number and postcode.
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Northumbrian Water
Consent is required from Northumbrian Water where there is a public sewer within 3 metres of the proposed work, both to protect the property and the sewer from damage and to preserve future access to the drainage system. The trigger is stated as planning to build within 3 metres of the public sewer. The team is contactable 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and responds to enquiries within two working days. Applicants are directed to the published charges document before applying.
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Northumbrian Water
The ownership map that decides who pays for a drainage problem. The homeowner owns private drains within the property boundary, including all internal plumbing, gutters, downpipes, gullies, soil stacks, manhole covers and underground pipework serving only that property; private sewage treatment works and septic tanks; shared drains serving flats, such as Tyneside flats or a block within a single boundary, which stay in the owners' shared ownership; and surface water sewers that do not connect to a public sewer, for example draining to a watercourse or soakaway. Northumbrian Water owns all public sewers, usually under roads and footpaths, and most shared sewers where drains from several neighbouring properties join before reaching the public sewer. Since 1 October 2011, under the Private Sewer Transfer Regulations 2011, most existing shared private sewers and lateral drains outside property boundaries transferred to the water company, so a pipe shared with neighbours or running beyond the boundary is often theirs; properties built after 2011 generally stay with the homeowner or developer. The local authority owns highway gullies and drains, the grated openings at the road edge. Reporting line 0345 717 1100.
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Openreach
The commercial rules for getting a new or altered property connected. Openreach installs Full Fibre free of charge for sites with 20 or more premises, and asks for a contribution on sites of 1 to 19 premises, which is the band a self-build or a small conversion falls into. Full Fibre is the default for all new build sites: any plot connected to copper infrastructure instead is charged a flat rate of £2,500 per plot, and since 15 November 2021 Openreach New Sites no longer offers additional copper purely for service lines. Commercial-only sites of 20 or more units also get Full Fibre free. Building regulations now mandate gigabit-ready telecoms infrastructure during construction of new homes, in force in England from 26 December 2022, Scotland from 1 January 2025 and Wales from 1 July 2025. Options beyond FTTP include Ethernet Access Direct via the Network in Advance offering.
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Openreach
The lead time and the money. Register the site at least eight weeks ahead of the site start date, and at least six months before broadband is wanted at the first property. Residential developments with more than 19 plots pay nothing: Openreach installs Fibre to the Premises free. Residential developments of 1 to 19 plots carry a maximum developer contribution for mandatory FTTP of £2,000 per plot; where the true cost exceeds £2,000 per plot Openreach sets out the excess and offers the option to pay it. A Service on Demand payment applies to sites with more than 11 plots. Registration needs the number and type of plots (houses or flats), whether the site is phased or part of a larger development, unique plot numbers, floor plans for every floor including plot numbers and building entrances, a schedule of accommodation, and for 20 or more plots the order of build. Building Regulations 2010 changes require gigabit capable infrastructure in all new homes in England.
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Openreach
The installation visit, useful when planning where sockets and services go in a refurbishment. A Full Fibre install usually takes around four hours. The engineer phones ahead, agrees a route for the fibre cable and where a hole will be drilled to bring it in, and may drill a couple of extra holes outside for ladder safety, which are then repaired. A permission to work form must be signed by the customer before any drilling or digging. The fibre is run from a nearby pole or from underground to a small junction box on an external wall, then a cable runs from that junction box to the Optical Network Terminal, a white wall-mounted box inside the property. The ONT and the router must be close together and near a double socket, which is the single planning decision a homeowner should make before first fix. More complex jobs may need a return visit. Anyone relying on the phone line for an intruder alarm, health pendant or wrist alarm should tell their service provider before the copper switchover.
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Property Redress
The consumer route through a government approved property redress scheme, which every letting and managing agent must belong to. Before a complaint is accepted the consumer must have written to the agent setting out the complaint and the resolution wanted, and must have allowed the agent up to 8 weeks to investigate and respond; the agent's membership can be confirmed on the scheme's online agent finder. The complaint must reach the scheme within 12 months of the last communication with the agent about the issue. Raising a complaint is free to the consumer and can be withdrawn at any time. On process, the scheme gives the agent 10 working days to send its response and evidence or resolve directly, and once all evidence is in the case assessor has up to 15 working days to write a default or proposed decision, with a decision produced within 10 working days of allocation.
- fair RN-CTC3GA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
Makes the case that stairs built to BS 5395-1:2010 cut the chance of a fall by 60% compared with stairs built only to the Building Regulations minimum, because the standard sets tighter going and rise dimensions, slip resistance and handrail provision. RoSPA has campaigned since 2022 for the standard to be made mandatory in new homes, and estimates that doing so could save the NHS up to £5 million a year through avoided accidents. Useful when specifying a new loft or extension staircase above the regulatory floor.
- fair RN-EGVE72
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN)
The quotation is free, carries no obligation and is valid for 90 days; if it lapses a new quotation can be requested, which restarts another 90 days. After payment a Project Manager makes contact within 5 working days. Work starts once payment is received and all required legal land rights and council permits are approved: SSEN aims to begin within 4 weeks where nothing else is needed, but where legal land rights or council permits are required works typically start within an average of 6 to 8 weeks. Excavations outside the property boundary are included in the quotation, but if more digging proves necessary on site the extra cost is notified then. SSEN will only move the electricity service cable to the desired location; the meter itself remains the energy supplier's responsibility.