Lack of planning permission/building reg/completion certificate

Bananamana

mulligatawny wrote: »

Building reg documentation can often be readily found on a search of your local councils planning portal which can throw up all sorts of documentation. The chances of the house being built without Building Regs are more than a little slim and are often pre requisite of a planning application and an NHBC cover note.

happens more than you think- often developers forget to get the final sign off - approval is usually granted but they often do not get the completion cert.

ignoramouse

Hi all,

Sorry to hijack/jump on to the thread, but I have just bought a house, similar issue.

Despite having copies of planning permission, the extension built in 1988 does not have a completion certificate. I don't even have anything to prove the exact date the work was finished. The land charges report in my HIP stated that the question of building regs was not answered as the information was not made by the local authority and that protection against financial loss was provided by an insurance policy in respect of this information.

Could this be a problem in the future, especially as I am thinking of fully converting the garage (it's integral, and at the time of the extension, it was also given a insulated stud block frontage with door and window) to make it more of a habitable room (i.e. fully insulate external wall and full damp proof/screeding of floor area). I understand that garage conversions do not need planning permission if all the work is internal, but building controls would still apply - would they then start asking questions about the other work done previously?

Thanks for any advice.

Doozergirl

They won't ask about previous work unless it affects the current. A garage conversion is a conversion of use and so it will need a lot of upgrading even if it was built as a garage last week, let alone 1988. You won't even know what is an upgrade from the regs in 1988 for a garage to what is an upgrade to a habitable room from a very recently built garage, iyswim.

Lack of a certificate then will not be an issue. They will just expect it to comply to its new use now which completely removes the problem of lack of certification form 1988 because it meets current standards.