Kitchen extension and removal of load bearing wall - no certificate of completion.

tzer

I'm in a process of buying a house, and my solicitor flagged that there is no certification of completion for the works done on the property. 

The works include putting a kitchen extension and removing load-bearing wall between living rooms. There is a planning permission, though.

The works were performed 21 years ago. Vendor claims that everything was done by professional builders (and everything looks pretty sound and fine), there was even an inspector to sign off the changes but didn't do that because of minor works not finished (extractor fan missing).

The solicitor suggests that indemnity insurance will be fine in such case. Is it something that should I be worried about?

ciderboy2009

What exactly is the indemnity insurance going to cover?

After 21 years you're not going to get anyone chasing a completion certificate and it's not as if the work has been done so shoddily that it's not going to last.

Doozergirl

It does sound feasible.  An inspector genuinely wouldn't sign off on a kitchen extension without an external extractor. If the hob isn't on an external wall it can be a bit tricky to create the route, although you could just have a bathroom style wall mounted extractor elsewhere.  

I wouldn't necessarily expect your average home owner to be aware of that!  

pretamang

if you want peace of mind that the work was carried out properly and isn't going to fall down then I suggest you fins a structural engineer (not a surveyor) to do an inspection and provide a report.

To do a full report they may need to get access to the structural parts of the build, which could mean making holes in wall or ceiling boards to get beneath the plasterwork. Obviously the seller may object to this, but it could be the only way to really know for sure (other than taking the sellers' word for it)

Doozergirl

pretamang said:

if you want peace of mind that the work was carried out properly and isn't going to fall down then I suggest you fins a structural engineer (not a surveyor) to do an inspection and provide a report.

To do a full report they may need to get access to the structural parts of the build, which could mean making holes in wall or ceiling boards to get beneath the plasterwork. Obviously the seller may object to this, but it could be the only way to really know for sure (other than taking the sellers' word for it)

Or if the vendor is telling the truth, they could add the extractor and get the sign off...

GDB2222

Doozergirl said:

pretamang said:

if you want peace of mind that the work was carried out properly and isn't going to fall down then I suggest you fins a structural engineer (not a surveyor) to do an inspection and provide a report.

To do a full report they may need to get access to the structural parts of the build, which could mean making holes in wall or ceiling boards to get beneath the plasterwork. Obviously the seller may object to this, but it could be the only way to really know for sure (other than taking the sellers' word for it)

Or if the vendor is telling the truth, they could add the extractor and get the sign off...

To get the sign off now, would that require inspection of the steel and pad stones?  I don’t suppose the original inspection records are still available?

user1977

Doozergirl said:

pretamang said:

if you want peace of mind that the work was carried out properly and isn't going to fall down then I suggest you fins a structural engineer (not a surveyor) to do an inspection and provide a report.

To do a full report they may need to get access to the structural parts of the build, which could mean making holes in wall or ceiling boards to get beneath the plasterwork. Obviously the seller may object to this, but it could be the only way to really know for sure (other than taking the sellers' word for it)

Or if the vendor is telling the truth, they could add the extractor and get the sign off...

Not sure if that's feasible now - would they be signing it off now as complying with 2001-era regulations, or would everything have to comply with current standards?

Doozergirl

GDB2222 said:

Doozergirl said:

pretamang said:

if you want peace of mind that the work was carried out properly and isn't going to fall down then I suggest you fins a structural engineer (not a surveyor) to do an inspection and provide a report.

To do a full report they may need to get access to the structural parts of the build, which could mean making holes in wall or ceiling boards to get beneath the plasterwork. Obviously the seller may object to this, but it could be the only way to really know for sure (other than taking the sellers' word for it)

Or if the vendor is telling the truth, they could add the extractor and get the sign off...

To get the sign off now, would that require inspection of the steel and pad stones?  I don’t suppose the original inspection records are still available?

The vendors are saying that it was inspected, it just wasn't signed off because of the lack of extractor.  

I've found BC records older than that! Even if it's on microfiche, it should definitely exist.  

I'd probably go with the indemnity and a decent survey, but it is an option.