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Building regs process started around five years ago, but never completed

Fatboy40
Fatboy40 Posts: 51 Forumite
edited 21 November 2009 pm30 2:21PM in House buying, renting & selling
I'm currently selling my house, have accepted an offer and the legal process has got to the point where my buyer has been presented with a contract.

Now around five years ago (somewhere between five and six) my father in law, who's been a builder for many years and is a damned good one, infilled our porch to effectively extend our living room. When this commenced he did contact our local council, and we had visits from the local inpector as required. However, in our ignorance we didn't contact the local council once the work was completed to gain the required certificate (can anyone confirm what the certificate is called ?).

Now our buyer's solictor has rasied this, and the request for the certificate has come from the buyers mortgage lender. We've bounced a few things back and forth, and our solictor is being very helpfull in keeping us informed or chasing things.

We've two options here, but to exchange and complete quickly we may only have one as the buyer may pull out if we can't complete this year (2009) due to the iminent increase in stamp duty and VAT.

First is Indemnity Insurance, however, as the local council was initialy contacted just over five years ago and had conducted inspections can this be obtained ?. On this query our solictor's being vague and bloody useless !. Also I can't say this for certain, but it appears that our buyers solicitor, or the lender, will just refuse this option no matter how we stand.

Second option is to complete the building regs process. Now I have no idea of what this may cost us, or how long this could take, is someone able to confirm this before I actualy approach the local council ?. I'm concerned that the completion of the building regs process could be costly to us as the vendor and be far far more than the cost of an Indemnity Policy. I understand that they may have to expose some of the work to examine materials used, which when the infill occured all were compliant with regs at the time (insulation and ventilation etc), should this be just a small amount of plaster removed and maybe a small drill hole and nothing major that would cost a lot to put right ?.

Thanks for your help here :)

Comments

  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,021 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The indemnity policiy would be available if you don't speak to the council, reagardless of the fact that they came out before.

    However, you can usually get a BC inspection within days. There may be some snagging, maybe not. You can get sign off as soon as you satisfy BC. I have had completion certificates emailed to me on the same day as inspection. It obv helps if you ask nicely!
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Thanks Doozergirl :)

    Anyone have an idea as to the costs involved with getting out the local inspector ?.
  • Sorry to bump the thread, I hate doing it, but I'll be calling my colicitors this morning and then the local council and I'd love to have an idea of what this may costs before I start the ball rolling ?.

    Thanks :)
  • First is Indemnity Insurance, however, as the local council was initialy contacted just over five years ago and had conducted inspections can this be obtained ?. On this query our solictor's being vague and bloody useless !. Also I can't say this for certain, but it appears that our buyers solicitor, or the lender, will just refuse this option no matter how we stand.

    1. It really isn't that difficult to phone up an indemnity insurer and explain there has been no contact with the Council for 5 years and see if they will provide the insurance - it is quite possible they will do so.

    2. If the buyer' solicitor actually contacts the lender as the lender won't really understand what's involved (because they will have unqualified staff dealing with it who may simply refer it to their surveyor for advice) they are likely to require all kinds of over the top things. Of course the buyer may be genuinely concerned that there is something about the work that gives rise to worries about safety or structural integrity of the work, rather than the pure point about the likelihood of enforcement by the Council. If the buyer is concerned about these points then you will probably have to get he Council in and go all through the process but if it is merely the fear of enforcement than a policy should be OK and the buyer's solicitor is being annoyingly over cautious.
    RICHARD WEBSTER

    As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.
  • chappers
    chappers Posts: 2,988 Forumite
    Fatboy40 wrote: »
    Thanks Doozergirl :)

    Anyone have an idea as to the costs involved with getting out the local inspector ?.

    The fees would usually have already been paid, with a payment being made upon submission of the plans and a final payment being made after the first inspection.
    If the work was done under a building notice then the full fee would have been payable upon application.
  • marcg
    marcg Posts: 177 Forumite
    For a porch the whole building regs fees are going to be no more than about £500. Most, if not all, of this will already have been paid. Since you know the builder and he has confirmed there was no problem (?) I reckon you should call the council and ask why a certificate wasn't issued. Probably just a paperwork issue.

    Note that if there was a problem (not likely on a porch for god's sake) you would be opening a can of worms to call the council.
    I'm an ARB-registered RIBA-chartered architect. However, no advice given over the internet can be truly relied upon since the person giving the advice hasn't actually got enough information to give it with confidence. Go and pay someone!
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