Buying home - extension query

savingman

Hi,
Quick question.
The property I am planning to purchase has couple of extension done and an internal wall removed.
Looks like they have planning approved by the council.
I have a question though.
Who will confirm that the extension / removing internal wall they did was as per plan / properly done.
Does the council confirm that the work is as per approved plan and provide a signoff ? if so does it means that when solicitor says that searches are OK means I don't need to worry about that.

Does surveyor check this?

what should I do?

glasgowdan

Ask your solicitor.

Hoploz

It is up to you to check that the plans approved match what has been built, ie does it look the way it should. If not, let your solicitor know so it can be queried with the seller.

Regarding building regulations, there should be completion certificates available, which confirm that work has been complete to the legal standard. Sometimes these are not available and then the seller has a headache as the buyer wants to know if it's safe and sound .... Come back here again if that is the case!

AlexMac

I'm in the process of doing minor structural work and although I know my builder is competent, I'm applying for a Building Notice (so the Council Building Control Officer can pop in, have a chat and a look, and presumably issue some kind of certificate on completion).

On the other hand, when I bought five years ago, my solicitor pointed out that there was no such evidence of compliance with building regulations nor certification of earlier works to remove an internal wall between the lounge and dining room...

Done a long time ago, as the vendor had actually got in a surveyor to certify the work was pukka, when they bought years earlier, because it long predated their ownership. My solicitor pointed out that the surveyor was only accountable to that client (the vendor) and that if problems developed, I'd have no comeback on their liability insurance.

I (and the builder brother in law) took the view that a 15+ year old beam had probably been done right as there was absolutely no sign of movement or cracking. I plan to stay here till they carry me out in a box, so I didn't bother paying £500 for another survey to tell me the bleedin obvious/.

so to answer your Q; yes; there should be evidence, from the Council Building control or one of these new Fly-by-Night independent approved Building Control Companies, that it was done right,

And if not, or if you fear that it wasn't, a surveyor will check it out for a few hundred quid or less.

But if an informed study indicates no movement (or recent papering over cracks) and you don't plan to move in the next few years, then you decide wheter to live with it, or try to chisel a few quid off the price to pay for a survey. But if the vendor refuses, will you walk away?

Your solicitor might suggest an indemnity, but if they do, ask what against? They tend not to cover remedial structural work, but merely legal/admin fallout of missing paperwork.

So good luck, assuming you go ahead, as I would.