Solicitor and internal load bearing wall

WelshGlyndwr

Solicitor said this

'Your seller has now confirmed that she does not hold a Building Regulation Completion Certificate for the removal of the internal load bearing wall. Your seller has also confirmed that she does not have any information or details for the works carried out, as such your seller has agreed to put a lack of building regulation indemnity policy in place on completion. This policy will cover you in the unlikely event that the local authority brought an action against you for not having the relevant building regulation completion certificate in place. However, the policy will not cover you if the works carried out are defective, as such, I would strongly recommend that you refer my comments to your surveyor and ask him to confirm that the works have been carried out properly. '

Then my building surveyor said:


Your solicitor is correct in that the insurance policy would cover you should the Council come back to you to regularise the work, however, it does not cover you for defective work.

As far as I can judge, without the beam being uncovered, at the time of the survey there were no obvious sign of a defect to the beam, so as far as I can tell, it should be fine.

What do you think?

tacpot12

If the surveyor has put in his report that the beam is safe, then you will be ok.

If it is on an email, you should be ok, but check with the surveyor that this emailed comment is covered by his professional liability insurance.

If it was a verbal comment, get him to put it in writing in his report, or in an email as above.

G_M

yes but he has sensibly covered himself. The reality is that he was unable to examine the beam (which is presumably hidden now behind plaster, wallpaper etc).


Do you know how long ago the wall was removed? If it was, say, 10 years, then any defect would be apparant by now. If it was last year, then who knows.......

D_M_E

Should be fine does not necessarily mean will be fine.

Ask seller if surveyor can remove some of the covering at beam ends to do a full inspection, it would give you and seller reassurance - or not.

WelshGlyndwr

D_M_E wrote: »

Should be fine does not necessarily mean will be fine.

Ask seller if surveyor can remove some of the covering at beam ends to do a full inspection, it would give you and seller reassurance - or not.

I should just go for it if it is over 10 years old? the extension?

Davesnave

WelshGlyndwr wrote: »

I should just go for it if it is over 10 years old? the extension?

What extension?


This was described as an internal load-bearing wall. Was it originally external?

WelshGlyndwr

Davesnave wrote: »

What extension?


This was described as an internal load-bearing wall. Was it originally external?

My mistake internal load bearing wall, my mistake calling it an extension

System

tacpot12 wrote: »

If the surveyor has put in his report that the beam is safe, then you will be ok.

If it is on an email, you should be ok, but check with the surveyor that this emailed comment is covered by his professional liability insurance.

If it was a verbal comment, get him to put it in writing in his report, or in an email as above.

Except he hasn't said that, he said as far as he can tell based on a visual inspection. to confirm the works are correct the beam would need to be exposed.


Unless the seller is prepared to have plasterwork removed, which I doubt they would and with the lack of paperwork I personally would walk away.

foxy-stoat

WelshGlyndwr wrote: »

What do you think?

I think the solicitor has covered himself and so has the surveyor so you wont be able to sue them if something bad was to happen.

Have you looked at photos the last time is was sold?

AdrianC

WelshGlyndwr wrote: »

Solicitor said this

'Your seller has now confirmed that she does not hold a Building Regulation Completion Certificate for the removal of the internal load bearing wall. Your seller has also confirmed that she does not have any information or details for the works carried out, as such your seller has agreed to put a lack of building regulation indemnity policy in place on completion. This policy will cover you in the unlikely event that the local authority brought an action against you for not having the relevant building regulation completion certificate in place. However, the policy will not cover you if the works carried out are defective, as such, I would strongly recommend that you refer my comments to your surveyor and ask him to confirm that the works have been carried out properly. '

Then my building surveyor said:

Your solicitor is correct in that the insurance policy would cover you should the Council come back to you to regularise the work, however, it does not cover you for defective work.

As far as I can judge, without the beam being uncovered, at the time of the survey there were no obvious sign of a defect to the beam, so as far as I can tell, it should be fine.

What do you think?

Situation normal. That's exactly what an indemnity does - it pays for any legals. And the risk of those is zero after this time, which is why indemnities are so cheap.

There's no way to be 100% certain what's in there without doing a fair bit of destructive work to the decor and finish. That's why building control won't sign anything off unless they've had regular progress visits - simply because they can't see what's hidden behind plaster etc.

After a decade, if it wasn't up to scratch, there'd almost certainly be clues.

ThePants999

Every time I see this thread title while browsing the board, my brain supplies a mental image of a solicitor holding the ceiling up.