South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 11/04/2014

Shaun Oram of Midland Road, Staple Hill was found guilty of 10 breaches of building regulations relating to an industrial unit in Kingswood. Health and safety issues concerning fire safety, protection from falling and access and facilities for disabled users were amongst these breaches and he received fines totalling £1,400 and was ordered to pay costs of £2,784. Mr Oram was instructed by the court to engage with the council to rectify the breaches and council officers will be continuing to enforce a legal notice served on the premises.

Mr Oram, the Business director of Extreme Choice Ltd, was originally found guilty of two offences under the building regulations last year. Dangerous building work was identified in a number of industrial units on the Bridge Road Estate in Kingswood following a multi-agency operation known as ‘Operation Suspension’ that was led by South Gloucestershire Council in February 2013.

The council’s building control officers followed up these concerns and found one particular unit where building work had been carried out which was not in accordance with the building regulations.

Further action was considered appropriate to rectify the situation and the failure to comply with legal notices. The council had made repeated attempts to engage with Mr Oram, but when he failed to do so there was no alternative but to pursue court action.

Andy Clark, South Gloucestershire Council’s Building Control and Planning Enforcement manager, said: “We want to work with businesses to ensure compliance with the building regulations. However where unauthorised work presents a threat to occupant’s health and safety, the council will not hesitate to take the appropriate legal action against anyone who breaches these regulations.”