General builders in Lenzie area

[vet111s]

Have been contacted by East Dunbartonshire council regarding the common garden wall between our house and theirs. Apparently their tenant (who I certainly used to get on well with) has complained that the wall which is on a bit of a slant (2ft wall) but hasn't moved in the 11yrs I've been there might collapse. According to EDC, H&S dictates that they now must act and have given me two options
1) they'll send me a mandate and unless I come up with another plan they'll just do the work and bill me for it.
2) I get 3 quotes from builders to cover the work and they'll pay half.
Now, on the back of a £3k bill to get my land rover back on the road (that's for another thread!) does anyone know good, reliable and if possible cheap general builders in the East Dunbartonshire area that I can call?

Cheers

Ali

[Dominic]

You have PM.

[bertieduff]

What legislation are they intending to enforce this under?

[vet111s]

Health and safety I believe. Argument is that they've had concerns that the wall may collapse and injure so are obliged to act.
Quite why it's more pricy for them to do it I don't know. Their staff surely are employed and paid regardless of whether that job is done. Equally, as a council, they shouldn't be aiming for making a profit on jobs like that?

However, that's an aside. Can they unilaterally dictate the job is done?

[j2 lot]

Probably on the back of the schoolgirl that was killed when the changing room wall collapsed. I believe Council maintenance departments across most areas have been inundated with repair requests as well as the inspection regime being instigated across all properties owned by Councils.

[bertieduff]

If they have genuine concerns that it's a dangerous structure they can serve notice on you under the Building (Scotland) Act. This compels the owners to repair, secure or demolish within a specified time frame, or else they will take the matter out of your hands, organise repairs, and recoup their costs. (I'm assuming you've checked your title deeds and the wall is actually owned by both parties). From the sound of things it'd be a stretch to class a wall of that height as a dangerous structure, so a notice under the Housing (Scotland) Act for common repairs might be more likely. Broadly similar process/result. They can't just march in and do the work without due process though, so if you ignore it and they pursue things you can expect a Notice through the door eventually.

(You can appeal these things through the courts if you disagree, but the cost and hassle would normally be more than it's worth)

You'd likely be cheaper organising it yourself: I'm not sure about East Dumbartonshire, but most Councils nowadays have a contract with outside consultants to organise these things, so you're often paying consultant's fees for reports, specifications, management, certification etc. on top of the cost of the work (even on something this minor you could potentially have a 'lead consultant'- often an Architect- plus a Quantity Surveyor and a Structural Engineer). The Council don't make any kind of profit, but you can see how all this adds up...gone are the days when Local Authorities carried their own staff to do these things.

If you leave it to them bear in mind you'll have little-to-no say in what's actually done, and it's not uncommon for opinions to differ! Also, although they're normally obliged to put the work out to tender (unless it's an imminent danger), you'd have no say in who is on the tender list. You may well be able to find someone cheaper yourself. (Without casting aspersions on EDC, some of the shenanigans at the likes of Edinburgh City Council over Statutory Repairs in recent years make for interesting reading.)

FYI I used to be a Building Control Officer (now called Building Standards Surveyors) for a Local Authority. I'm now on the Architecture side of things and have worked for practices that carry out these contracts, so have seen both sides of the process. I'm not a legal eagle, but maybe some of our learned friends here can advise further if required.

Mr Point'n'Squirt on here has a good reputation as a builder, I hear, but hopefully someone more local will be able to advise...

[vet111s]

Thanks for the explanation. That does make some sense.
Guess I'm not debating the work needs done at some stage I just felt a little aggrieved at the process especially when it was all started by my "so I just told them" neighbour who isn't going to bear any of the bill. Generally have a good relationship with my neighbours and would rather have had a chat, when would it suit to look at getting this done, shall we try to find someone who doesn't get involved in such things as paying her majesty etc rather than-"the onus is on you, get it fixed or we'll fix it for you"
And aware I'm partly just stinging from such a huge car repair and having reroofed in January.