Selling - no completion certificate for extension

BonBons2021

Hello can anyone advise. 
Selling our house, had a small kitchen extension around 7yrs ago, we put in a full planning app but as only small was done under permitted developments, all good all happy, no reason to think that the builder has not followed the proper process, both can remember people from the LA coming round at various points but we know (and builder has confirmed today) that he would have orgnaised this. What we don't have in the raft of paperwork from our LA regarding the extension is this damned bit of paper. My husband organised it all but neither of us can remember having heard of one before - believe me if I'd have known and known how important it is now seeming to be I'd have been guarding it with my life!Husband said he thought the really important thing was the planning approval doc which it said should be kept with our deeds. Which we do have. 

Obvs our solicitor is going to offer the indemnity insurance but I'm not sure buyer will go for this at all and I don't like the way it all implies you haven't got the cert because you've never had pp or building regs which isn't the case! I've read a lot about regularisation but again this seems to apply to cases where work has been done without building regs or planning or where someone's gone wildly off plan - neither is the case here. There doesn't seem to be anything online which refers to our situation either, surely these things must go missing all the time! It doesn't mean you've done it on the QT or never applied for planning and had drawings signed off which is the angle everything we're reading is coming from.
We're also not entirely sure whether this would be sent automatically after the final inspection or whether we would have to have requested it. Annoyingly we have a receipt which says we paid for a package that included the 3 inspections and the cert!!! 
And yes I know we can't simply check with the bloody council because of the blinking terms of the insurance. Madness! 
I just don't know how we move forward and remedy it if the buyer won't go with the insurance, I was reading things that are saying we will have to have it taken down so they can inspect the foundations and have it re-built to be able to get any form certification....so it's either this or risk never being able to sell??
I feel sick with it all.  

AdrianC

If the builder got BR sign-off, then contact the council for a copy.

If the builder didn't get BR sign-off, then the indemnity is no more than (some commission for the solicitor and) a little reassuring hug for the buyer, because there's not a sausage the local authority can do about it 7yrs later.

No, you do not have to take it down or get the foundations excavated. You may, at the worst, have to find a buyer who's less pernickety about an irrelevant piece of paper.

Slinky

Have you checked the planning portal for your permission, to see if the certificate was actually issued?

davidmcn

BonBons2021 said:

I just don't know how we move forward and remedy it if the buyer won't go with the insurance, I was reading things that are saying we will have to have it taken down so they can inspect the foundations and have it re-built to be able to get any form certification....so it's either this or risk never being able to sell?

No, you just find a less absurd person to sell to. It'll be fine.

Doozergirl

It's quite common that people don't have their final inspection.   

If you know it was applied for and you have the receipt and remember inspections, then you either haven't received the certificate or you didn't have the final inspection and therefore it hasn't been issued.  

Your choice on whether to contact the council or offer the indemnity policy.  

BonBons2021

@Slinky yes but nothing comes up under our address or the ref no, I've been doing some digging and apparently if it ends up being building regs/permitted dev only it doesn't go on to the portal as there doesn't need to be a public record, apparently you can pay to access this but according to our sols we're not allowed to contact the council now because doing so could invalidate any insurance. It's all rather mind-boggling. 

Thrugelmir

As with anything building related. It's what you cannot see that's often the issue. The quality of the workmanship. Trades people can cut corners. 

BonBons2021

@Doozergirl I keep seeing that pop up as well lol, I can't believe it seems to be so important yet no one knows until they come to sell it, honestly I bloody wish I'd have sorted everything now, husband has form for being a bit forgetful! We've sent them every single thing we have on it so we'll just have to see what the buyer says.  I'm just scared of where we go if they pull out or won't accept the insurance. 

Doozergirl

BonBons2021 said:

@Slinky yes but nothing comes up under our address or the ref no, I've been doing some digging and apparently if it ends up being building regs/permitted dev only it doesn't go on to the portal as there doesn't need to be a public record, apparently you can pay to access this but according to our sols we're not allowed to contact the council now because doing so could invalidate any insurance. It's all rather mind-boggling. 

So you need to be confident that it complies at this point before considering contacting them.  If the buyer is willing to take it, I'd pay for the policy as a first choice at this point in time.