Property Clinic

EXPERTS EXPLAIN:Ask our experts for advice on your property problems

Left in the lurch by an architect

Q We live in a 35-year-old three-bedroom semi in Co Wicklow onto which we built an extension last year. The extension included a new pitch roof on the garage at the gable end, but water continues to appear down the inside wall of the garage despite triple layers of flashing.

Our builder has been very helpful in trying to resolve this, but we all think the external plastering is so old it is now porous and allowing rainwater seep through and down the concrete block.

Before I go re-plastering the whole house, have you ever come across this problem before and are we missing something?

AThe house was built in the mid-1970s and is probably of cavity blockwork construction with a render finish externally. This problem is common where a new pitched roof abuts an existing gable wall.

In a new-build situation, cavity tray damp proof courses would be installed in the gable wall along the line of the abutting roof, specifically to prevent this problem.

Good detailing of flashings can minimise the problem. The detailing will vary depending on what material is on your pitched roof.

However, the principle is the same and requires both flashing and counter-flashing to be correctly installed, suitable code 4 lead to be used and the cover- flashing to be adequately bedded through the render and into the blockwork. The render above the flashing should also be suitably terminated. The Homebond housebuilding manual provides suitable details.

There is still a risk that if the render is very porous, the wall above the flashing may become saturated and water transfer to the interior However, I would not expect this with a house of this age.

It is more likely that the flashings have been incorrectly installed. You could check this by hose testing along the flashing line (not wetting the rendered wall above) and, if water appears inside, you will know that it is a flashing problem.

* Krystyna Rawiczis a chartered building surveyor and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie

How to deal with a leaky extension

Q My wife and I are at our wits’ end. We had an extension done, a job completed nearly a year ago, and paid an architect to be our project manager. Although we paid him, he has left us in the lurch with a number of issues, including collecting letters from the waste company and subsequently paying them.

We had to pay extra to the builder, as he was left out of pocket. The architect has refused to take our calls for more than a year and refuses to meet us to sign off on the job.

We were lucky that the builder he got for us did a great job, but we had to do most of the snag list ourselves and were left with problems over bills. We need the architect to sign off on the build or we will not be able to sell our house should we need to.

AHave you written to your architect? If the only matter outstanding is certification and once you are happy that (1) certification was included in the terms of engagement of the architect and (2) you have not carried out works beyond the scope of the original project, which would prevent your architect certifying compliance, then you should put your grievance in writing.

Seek the certificates of compliance within a time frame, failing which you will either refer the matter to the appropriate professional body or to your solicitor.

Under the Building Control Act 2007, the RIAI is the registration body and competent authority for architects in Ireland.

If the architect engaged by you is a member of the RIAI (see riai.ie), then I suggest that you write to the architect referring to the RIAI code of professional conduct.

You should warn him that if he does not furnish you with the certificates of compliance within seven days, you will write to the RIAI with a complaint and request that the institute intervene to compel the architect to provide the necessary certification.

If the architect is not a member of the RIAI, then give the matter seven days before referring it to your solicitor, who can also write to the architect on your behalf.

The alternative is that you may have to engage another professional (who should provide evidence that they have the appropriate professional indemnity insurance in place) to inspect the works.

This is in order to determine whether or not the house extension works are compliant with the relevant planning and building control legislation and regulations, and to provide you with the certification you require once the professional is satisfied that the works are compliant.

* Colin Hayesis a solicitor in the litigation department of Whitney Moore, whitney moore.ie