Seller not providing certificates

Hoploz

My seller has been asked for certificates for building work they have done and they simply say they are 'unable to supply' them.

There should be building regs and possibly windows, electric and gas works for jobs they've done in 2012.

When they said they couldn't supply them, our solicitor pinged back asking for an indemnity instead, but I don't think that's good enough. I want to know things have been done properly and safely.

Has anyone experienced this and have suggestions what we can do please?

BitterAndTwisted

If you're not prepared to accept the vendor acquiring indemnity insurance you won't be buying this property. It's an either/or because nothing will magic up the certs you think you want if there aren't any.

AdrianC

You have two choices, then.

Insist they get retrospective approval and certificates (or, at the very least, an in-depth inspection report to equivalent standards) or walk away. I suspect the two amount to the same thing, since few potential buyers would be so insistent.

Hoploz

I just feel sure they would have applied for permission but they just can't be bothered to get the paperwork organised. They filled in all the forms really slapdash with stupid mistakes

Hoploz

Is the lender likely to be happy with only the indemnity?

chanz4

i would fit my own windows, just because their isnt a cert means nothing just hype for sols to make money

Nuninge

I have found after trying to chase up a query about an attic room that I posted on here about yesterday, that you can ring the council and ask what work they have on record. In my case they had building regs for a staircase to an attic room but the surveyor spotted that the room had never been officially converted to a bedroom and that the house could therefore only be marketed as 3 bed not 4 bed. My solicitor suggesting they get retrospective planning regs but the room won't pass for so many reasons and speaking to council today they confirmed that, so speak to the local building regs department - mine seemed happy to divulge pretty much what they had on file meaning that we are about to pull out of our purchase but yours might come up with the answers to what you want to know about that element of the purchase and your solicitor should therefore be able to just ask the seller's solicitor to them get copies of the building regs from the council.

G_M

Well, you've just really p*ssed off the owner!

By alerting the council, you have invalidated any future indemnity insurance.

Bit like your GP being infomred by a consultant that you have cancer. You'll never get health/life insurance

kiddakidda

G_M wrote: »

Well, you've just really p*ssed off the owner!

By alerting the council, you have invalidated any future indemnity insurance.

Bit like your GP being infomred by a consultant that you have cancer. You'll never get health/life insurance

This is my understanding.......... Indemnity option now removed.

kiddakidda

Hoploz wrote: »

Is the lender likely to be happy with only the indemnity?

Probably, yes.

My suggestion,

Get an independent electrician, gas fitter etc to check the quality of the work at your expense. If it's good, get indemnity insurance and get the house bought.

If it's not good, get a price to rectify and try and negotiate and still get indemnity insurance and get the house bought.

If neither of the above is workable, walk away.

Getting hung up on those certs will end in disaster, he won't get them.

Argghhh

certs are a load of tripe - just money making bollox - have an electrician / gas person do a quick inspection to make sure its ok and move on
a certificate is only like an mot - good as the day installed - who is to say someone hasnt affected it in any way afterwards by curtting a wire, damaging a pipe etc.