Sign off of the stages

Just found out that my architect does not have the qualifications to sign off the buildstore stages ! Also neother the current builder or the possible replacement has either. I was a bit stuck but called John O'Toole the NHBC solo inspector and he said he could do that so we are back on track again.

Bricks Approved

Had a call from the architect saying that the bricks we submitted have been signed off. This is quite a red/creamy brick - with a handmade look - quite textured. I need to find a concrete slate coloured tile as the one submitted was a red mix and we are not sure we want that. Some samples of the brick above. Not sure what it will look like on our house yet - hopefully we will know in a few months time.

Brick and Tile Match the Sequel

We were told last week that the brick and tile we chose was not approved by Tony Evans the council conservation officer ! Mark suggested we look at a house he is building in Epsom.. and we did and liked the brick. We cant have the tile though because Tony Evans wants plain concrete. Anyway we think we have some options so our architect is going to get these approved. Needless to say we put the previous brick order on hold.

Piling work starts

The piling started on schedule on 5th October in the pouring rain but all seemed to proceed well. Half way through we were told the step had to come back but only 350 mm rather than the previous 500 mm. We can do this by grinding down the piles at the front.

Work Starts !!!

Work finally started again at 9am on Monday 5th October. We all met on site in the pouring rain for the architect to check and finalise the levels. After that we had a short meeting at home to discuss changes needed to the drawings and pricing for stage 1. The architect suggested asking a quantity surveyor to comment on the pricing and provided a recommendation. I later made an appointment to see him.

Later the same day the architect called to say we no longer need a step in the house - so it can all be at the same level - good news - but am confused about why this was such as issue before.

I am expecting a full new set of drawings to be produced this week. Have also asked for these on cad format.

In the meantime my new contractor is away on holiday so nothing will progress on that front for a while.

Also was told we cant have an air source heat pump so we are back to solar panels. More research needed.

Had a chat with Andy Bull who we met at the house renovation show about the network and cabling. Am waiting for some information from him so we can finalise the designs.