New planting - required to comply with BS5837 ?

[daltontrees]

Sorry '10 Bears', I should have said 'Low shrinkage' (or 'Low volume change potential') not 'low plasticity.

My mistake.

 

After all that's been said, I am still not entirely clear what the objective is. If there is a concern about future damage to your building, hte person you would seek redress from in the first instyance if damage occurs is the owner of the tree. That's the same as the owner of the land. So what you could do is sned a recorded letter to the landowner putting them on notice that you are concerned about the likely effects of the tree, its roots and water uptake, on your building, perhaps mentioning the raw NHBC guidance. Having ut the tree owner on notice, it would be easy to demonstrate foreseeability in a future insurance or civil claim.

 

There are so many other factors in this that I don't think one can say for sure that damage will occur, or when. It would be the tree owner's decision whether to take advice and seek a concession from the LPA to adjust the planting. In turn, if the LPA refuses while knowing of the potential for damage, again future liability will be easier to prove. At that point it will be for whomsoever to juggle 5837 and all the other best-practice documents that should or shouldn't have been taken into account.

 

Stick a copy of the letter with your title deeds. Then you can probably forget about it for a few decades.