When we were applying for planning permission for our extension, we were concerned about a drain that runs along the back of our property being close to the rear wall of the proposed extension. We sought the advice of building control at the council who said that the minimum gap allowed between the footings & drain was 25mm, in which case the builder should put some foam in the gap to protect the pipe. We applied to extend 0.2 metres more than the depth usually allowed by the council which gave us the minimum gap between the pipe and the footings. It was approved. We're now applying for building regs and have discovered that the drain is owned by Thames Water and we need a build over agreement to get their permission to build over it. Someone at Thames Water told our architect that they require at least 2 feet between the pipe and the footings. Could this be right?? I've trawled Thames Water's website and can't find any mention of a minimum gap on there. I hope to god he's wrong as I don't fancy our chances if we ask planning for more space as we're already over the limit! Surely if Building Control think a smaller gap is ok that should be enough, or is it?? Can Thames Water overule them?
