Selling house - No Building Reg Certificate for extension

Ian_Spindler

Any advice is appreciated.


We had a single storey kitchen extension to our property in 2011. The works were inspected by the local authority Building Control several times during the construction but at completion of the works - our builder did not apply for final certification.


We are now in a position that we are Sold STC and this has been flagged in the Searches. Does anyone know how this can be overcome quickly to enable us to exchange contracts as planned?


Thanks

pm04gn

You can take out an indemnity policy to cover the lack of certificate.
The vendor in my current house provided us with one for the extension and this will be passed on to our buyers when we move next time. As the seller I suspect you will be asked to pay for the policy.

foxy-stoat

You should explain this to your solicitor for them to pass onto the buyers solicitor and their clients. They may still proceed with the purchase or walkaway.

If it were me I would want a reduction in price at least the amount for a full intrusive survey to inspect foundation depths, wall and roof insultation and construction including your structural engineers calculations for any I beams etc.....But on the plus side if it is still up and ok after 5 years the chances are that it was built properly and will have no issues in the future.

Failing that, can you not speak to the Building Control Officer at the council and get him to issue the final certificate, assuming they inspected the foundations, any steels and walls before they were finished.

Ian_Spindler

pm04gn wrote: »

You can take out an indemnity policy to cover the lack of certificate.
The vendor in my current house provided us with one for the extension and this will be passed on to our buyers when we move next time. As the seller I suspect you will be asked to pay for the policy.

Thank you - I had heard of these but wasn't something I was aware we could do under this circumstance. At the moment, my solicitor is asking for me to make a Building Control Regularisation application which involves then coming out to inspect the works (again).

foxy-stoat

Ian_Spindler wrote: »

Thank you - I had heard of these but wasn't something I was aware we could do under this circumstance. At the moment, my solicitor is asking for me to make a Building Control Regularisation application which involves then coming out to inspect the works (again).

That would be the best thing you can do, get it sorted properly for the buyer.

Ian_Spindler

foxy-stoat wrote: »

You should explain this to your solicitor for them to pass onto the buyers solicitor and their clients. They may still proceed with the purchase or walkaway.

If it were me I would want a reduction in price at least the amount for a full intrusive survey to inspect foundation depths, wall and roof insultation and construction including your structural engineers calculations for any I beams etc.....But on the plus side if it is still up and ok after 5 years the chances are that it was built properly and will have no issues in the future.

Failing that, can you not speak to the Building Control Officer at the council and get him to issue the final certificate, assuming they inspected the foundations, any steels and walls before they were finished.

The Building Control officer did inspect the works at key stages (foundation, foor plate, drainage etc) ... it was just the final inspection that they were not asked by our builder to undertake. Thanks

foxy-stoat

Thats good news for you then, all they would need to see is the job finished and they can issue the final certificate required.

Problems arise when they do not inspect footings, steels and insulation.

Freecall

Ian_Spindler wrote: »

my solicitor is asking for me to make a Building Control Regularisation application .

Your solicitor is wrong (maybe because they don't have all the facts).

You do not need to make a regularisation application because if the work was inspected during construction you must have already made either a Full Plans application or a Building Notice application.

Simply ring the Building Inspector and they will come out and either sign it off or tell you what you need to do to get it signed off.

They should do this within 2 days of you calling so hopefully it will not only be cheap but quick.

Doozergirl

Freecall wrote: »

Your solicitor is wrong (maybe because they don't have all the facts).

You do not need to make a regularisation application because if the work was inspected during construction you must have already made either a Full Plans application or a Building Notice application.

Simply ring the Building Inspector and they will come out and either sign it off or tell you what you need to do to get it signed off.

They should do this within 2 days of you calling so hopefully it will not only be cheap but quick.

Exactly this!

Ian_Spindler

Freecall wrote: »

Simply ring the Building Inspector and they will come out and either sign it off or tell you what you need to do to get it signed off.

Is there a time limit on them undertaking this - i.e. a set number of years after the Building Notice application was made??

Hoploz

No, I had my final inspection 5 years after the main work was done. I had a big extension and we ran out of cash so the BI gave me a short list of what would need to be done to get the certificate. When I decided to sell I got the last of the jobs done, in my case I fitted an extractor fan in utility room, and he came for a quick peek (only looked at the outstanding items - fire door between house & garage, installation of new ensuite & the fan - not the rest of it) and issued the certificate before we sold.

I would ask the builder what the situation is. What happened last time the BI visited, and whether there are any matters which he left knowing it wouldn't meet the required standards.

It is the responsibility of the home owner to deal with building control, it should not be left to the builder. Fine for them to deal with each other of course, but you need to be kept up to speed with what has been done and what is next at every stage.