One rule for us....

[owre-weel]

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that Tesco is busy building it's extension without a building warrant and have had to halt work meantime, but that wasn't the worst bit. SIC and Tesco were having talks and hope that things can be resolved next week and work can continue.

 

In a week..... If this is the case I will be the first one knocking on Building Controls doors asking how they can pull out all the stops for Tesco, yet it took them nearly 3 Months to deal with my simple warrant for basic work on my property. I had to be at them constantly to get them to get on with it. I can't recall how long I had to wait to get the completion certificate.

 

It seems the way to do it, is crack on without the warrant, then when/if they find out, you'll get it rushed through.

[Ghostrider]

Considering the history of the relationship Tesco have had with SIC planning, nothing surprises me.

I guess that's the difference between only having a T on your business frontage, and having 'esco' after it.

[Colin]

Ease up a little.  It wasn't Tesco's fault that a warrant was not in place.  Try blaming one of the local contractors...

[gafynandrew]

Maybe try blaming the major Scottish building company who are running the job, not the local company who are sub-contracted in to do the work....

[owre-weel]

You've missed the point.

 

My concern is regarding the speed in which Tesco is getting this sorted by building control, when my small job was delayed for three months due to the time they took to get round to looking at mine. This caused me to have to delay work until the following spring as I didn't want to open up my house during the Shetland winter.

 

The point is why can they rush this in a week, but my small job took so long?

 

On another note, you can blame local or main contractors etc all you want, but it's Tescos responsibility to ensure they have the proper paperwork in place before work commences.

[Colin]

On another note, you can blame local or main contractors etc all you want, but it's Tescos responsibility to ensure they have the proper paperwork in place before work commences.

Ultimately, yes.

 

I suspect that the reason Tesco get a fast reaction is that, when they kick someone in the sphincter, they can kick a lot harder and, the recipient feels it....

[paulb]

and rightly so in this case. as the end client they are held to blame but its not there fault some poor office worker messed up. hope they still have their job.

[owre-weel]

Whoever 'forgot' to apply for the warrant will no doubt get some tounge lashing as it is the basic requirement for any building work. Tesco has built many stores and extensions and as a company of some considerable size, they should have procedures in place to ensure these important documents are in place prior to putting a shovel in the ground. No doubt everyone will look for someone else to blame.

 

But this to me is not the main concern regarding this sorry saga as far as I'm concerned. Having spoken to two different small builders yesterday, both have told me that they are fed up with the time it takes to get a building warrant and the hoops they have to jump through, meaning they have lost work or had to build in winter months due to huge delays in responses from building control and always being told it was down to staff shortages etc.

 

Both of these small builders are fuming that according to the statement on Shetland news, Tesco and building control hope to have this sorted by the end of the week so that work can continue.

 

You have to ask why is all the stops being pulled out for one company, who after all, broke the rules, whilst the small man, who works within the rules, are held up for months and told they must not commence any work.

 

What, if any, fines or punishment will Tesco face for breaking the rules, or does this now suggest that the best way to get on with a job is just to start it, and when building control notice, they will rush thought your warrant?

 

How many warrant applications, which are already in the system, are to be further delayed whilst staff work on fast tracking Tescos one?

 

I'm not against Tesco, but I feel their warrant should take its place in the queue just as yours or mine would have to do.

[Ghostrider]

Of course, a cynic might think Tesco had decided to just wing it as the local suits probably wouldn't be paying enough attention to notice....but if they did they could then play the "customer expectations/demand for the service" and "we can't have the site in limbo due to customer inconvenience/safety, we need to know whether we can proceed or will have to reinstate ASAP" cards.

 

Of course, we don't have cynics in Shetland, do we....

[Scorrie]

Of course, a cynic might think Tesco had decided to just wing it as the local suits probably wouldn't be paying enough attention to notice....but if they did they could then play the "customer expectations/demand for the service" and "we can't have the site in limbo due to customer inconvenience/safety, we need to know whether we can proceed or will have to reinstate ASAP" cards.....

 

.....

 

...coupled with "Jobs at risk"...."a step back for the local economy"..."unable to guarantee to long term commitment due to economic pressures"...... ("if we don't get our own way").....

[Biglad]

Of course, a cynic might think Tesco had decided to just wing it as the local suits probably wouldn't be paying enough attention to notice....but if they did they could then play the "customer expectations/demand for the service" and "we can't have the site in limbo due to customer inconvenience/safety, we need to know whether we can proceed or will have to reinstate ASAP" cards.

 

Of course, we don't have cynics in Shetland, do we....

'It's what the customer wants' line.....surely no. I reckon thats a management from the top down to the minion managers. Did you see the one squirming on Hugh's fish fight the other night.......That line didn't work for him.

 

Anyway, consent or not, it's going ahead no matter what!

[Carlos]

I suppose it depends a bit - was there no application at all for a warrant from Tescos before now, or had they got 99.99% of the way to getting one and just needed 1 line of text added to one drawing. Or where was it in between those two extremes?

[Ghostrider]

^ Not really, an "incomplete" application is just that, it makes no odds whether its because nothing has ever been done about it, or because some minor detail is not entered correctly, its not acceptable for the purpose it has to serve. You can bet your boots if one of use plebs had an application rejected due to undotted 'i's' or uncrossed 't's' it would go right to the back of the queue - there should be no exceptions made for huffing and puffing multi-nationals or anyone else, whoever they are.

[owre-weel]

I suppose it depends a bit - was there no application at all for a warrant from Tescos before now, or had they got 99.99% of the way to getting one and just needed 1 line of text added to one drawing. Or where was it in between those two extremes?

Du's got a fair point there Carlos, but they have been on site for a bit, and obviously decided to start without proper paperwork in place.

 

If I knew it was so easy to ignore the system, I could have started my job during summer weather, rather than being delayed and losing my builder, resulting in having to wait until the following spring.

 

I should have just started, then if building control arrived, they would then have rushed my warrant through in less then a week, silly me, I stuck with the rules doubt I'll do that again

Edited March 6, 2014 by owre-weel

[MuckleJoannie]

According to this the application was made in June last year. You will notice that the previous applications for building warrant were passed in a matter of weeks, so I just wonder if they got fed up waiting and decided to force SIC's hand.

 

http://pa.shetland.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do;jsessionid=57EB890E6278A1E86C44A1DF7F0C3B6E?action=firstPage