Building Regulation Completion Certificate

middleagedriver

We are buying a house built in 2017. We are one last enquiry away from agreeing a completion date and that is for the Building Regulation Completion Certificate. The seller does not have this, local search indicates council do not have this and NHBC did not carry out Building Control so do not have it. Seller is contacting their original solicitor when they purchased to see if they have it but no response from them yet.

Our mortgage offer expires 3 weeks today and our solicitor is insisting that the lender (Nationwide) require the sight of this before they lend.

So my questions below are incase the original solicitor does not come through:

Is there anyone else that might have this certificate?

Does Nationwide actually require this certificate?

What can I do to resolve this to force it through next week?

Seller and myself are sick as this purchase has been dragging since 4th May, so we just want it all done now

user1977

middleagedriver said:

local search indicates council do not have this 

Has anybody actually checked with the council, given it's them who would have issued it? The usual problem is "not looking for it properly" e.g. if the local search just checked under "21 Acacia Avenue", they're not going to find "Plot 54 Phase III The Willows" or whatever the builders knew it as. I expect it was signed off, especially if it has NHBC cover.

No, nobody at the Nationwide actually wants to see it, this is just part of the lender's standard instructions to the solicitors, so it's the solicitor who needs to tick it off their list. And even if you didn't have a lender who wanted it, you'd want to get it for your own purposes (because you'll be asked the same question when you sell).

middleagedriver

user1977 said:

middleagedriver said:

local search indicates council do not have this 

Has anybody actually checked with the council, given it's them who would have issued it? The usual problem is "not looking for it properly" e.g. if the local search just checked under "21 Acacia Avenue", they're not going to find "Plot 54 Phase III The Willows" or whatever the builders knew it as. I expect it was signed off, especially if it has NHBC cover.

No, nobody at the Nationwide actually wants to see it, this is just part of the lender's standard instructions to the solicitors, so it's the solicitor who needs to tick it off their list. And even if you didn't have a lender who wanted it, you'd want to get it for your own purposes (because you'll be asked the same question when you sell).

That is reassuring that you think it will be signed off. We do have NHBC as we have the warranty details and the form to change to our name.

Think this issue is if we or seller checks with council we have no chance of an indemnity policy (even if that’s possible) if the council has not signed it off. Very good point about plot number as the NHBC docs ‘Address of Work’ is nothing like the actual address. It’s a plot number and the road that passes the estate.

Just_another_saver

Just a heads up but I had a similar situation with the same lender. They wouldn’t accept the indemnity policy in the end so I had to use another lender.  It was in relation to a open conservatory with no exterior door separating it from house. 

Doozergirl

middleagedriver said:

user1977 said:

middleagedriver said:

local search indicates council do not have this 

Has anybody actually checked with the council, given it's them who would have issued it? The usual problem is "not looking for it properly" e.g. if the local search just checked under "21 Acacia Avenue", they're not going to find "Plot 54 Phase III The Willows" or whatever the builders knew it as. I expect it was signed off, especially if it has NHBC cover.

No, nobody at the Nationwide actually wants to see it, this is just part of the lender's standard instructions to the solicitors, so it's the solicitor who needs to tick it off their list. And even if you didn't have a lender who wanted it, you'd want to get it for your own purposes (because you'll be asked the same question when you sell).

That is reassuring that you think it will be signed off. We do have NHBC as we have the warranty details and the form to change to our name.

Think this issue is if we or seller checks with council we have no chance of an indemnity policy (even if that’s possible) if the council has not signed it off. Very good point about plot number as the NHBC docs ‘Address of Work’ is nothing like the actual address. It’s a plot number and the road that passes the estate.

This is a slightly different situation because an indemnity policy for a new build is almost never an option.  It's a big deal. 

But it's also that case that the 10 year warranty exists and that means that there has to be a Building Control Completion Certificate.  There would be no warranty without the certificate.  

In these circumstances I would contact Building Control but it needs to be the vendor that does this. If it's not showing on the searches then someone's going to have to do a manual search based on the whole development rather current address, as user1977 alludes to above.  

middleagedriver

Doozergirl said:

middleagedriver said:

user1977 said:

middleagedriver said:

local search indicates council do not have this 

Has anybody actually checked with the council, given it's them who would have issued it? The usual problem is "not looking for it properly" e.g. if the local search just checked under "21 Acacia Avenue", they're not going to find "Plot 54 Phase III The Willows" or whatever the builders knew it as. I expect it was signed off, especially if it has NHBC cover.

No, nobody at the Nationwide actually wants to see it, this is just part of the lender's standard instructions to the solicitors, so it's the solicitor who needs to tick it off their list. And even if you didn't have a lender who wanted it, you'd want to get it for your own purposes (because you'll be asked the same question when you sell).

That is reassuring that you think it will be signed off. We do have NHBC as we have the warranty details and the form to change to our name.

Think this issue is if we or seller checks with council we have no chance of an indemnity policy (even if that’s possible) if the council has not signed it off. Very good point about plot number as the NHBC docs ‘Address of Work’ is nothing like the actual address. It’s a plot number and the road that passes the estate.

This is a slightly different situation because an indemnity policy for a new build is almost never an option.  It's a big deal. 

But it's also that case that the 10 year warranty exists and that means that there has to be a Building Control Completion Certificate.  There would be no warranty without the certificate.  

In these circumstances I would contact Building Control but it needs to be the vendor that does this. If it's not showing on the searches then someone's going to have to do a manual search based on the whole development rather current address, as user1977 alludes to above.  

Thanks for that. Our solicitor has explained it’s important but we’ve never spoke about indemnity policy yet.

Our vendor is a bit slow if I’m honest and doesn’t seem to understand the urgency. Would building control just refuse to speak to me?

Doozergirl

middleagedriver said:

Doozergirl said:

middleagedriver said:

user1977 said:

middleagedriver said:

local search indicates council do not have this 

Has anybody actually checked with the council, given it's them who would have issued it? The usual problem is "not looking for it properly" e.g. if the local search just checked under "21 Acacia Avenue", they're not going to find "Plot 54 Phase III The Willows" or whatever the builders knew it as. I expect it was signed off, especially if it has NHBC cover.

No, nobody at the Nationwide actually wants to see it, this is just part of the lender's standard instructions to the solicitors, so it's the solicitor who needs to tick it off their list. And even if you didn't have a lender who wanted it, you'd want to get it for your own purposes (because you'll be asked the same question when you sell).

That is reassuring that you think it will be signed off. We do have NHBC as we have the warranty details and the form to change to our name.

Think this issue is if we or seller checks with council we have no chance of an indemnity policy (even if that’s possible) if the council has not signed it off. Very good point about plot number as the NHBC docs ‘Address of Work’ is nothing like the actual address. It’s a plot number and the road that passes the estate.

This is a slightly different situation because an indemnity policy for a new build is almost never an option.  It's a big deal. 

But it's also that case that the 10 year warranty exists and that means that there has to be a Building Control Completion Certificate.  There would be no warranty without the certificate.  

In these circumstances I would contact Building Control but it needs to be the vendor that does this. If it's not showing on the searches then someone's going to have to do a manual search based on the whole development rather current address, as user1977 alludes to above.  

Thanks for that. Our solicitor has explained it’s important but we’ve never spoke about indemnity policy yet.

Our vendor is a bit slow if I’m honest and doesn’t seem to understand the urgency. Would building control just refuse to speak to me?

You can call them, but it isn't your house or your responsibility and I'm strongly of the opinion that if someone is going to ruin the potential of an indemnity policy when it needs to be on the vendor's behalf.  Even if an indemnity isn't an option currently and the likelihood of the certificate not existing is probably zero.  

It is your agent's responsibility to let them know of the urgency of this situation, but I do also understand the situation better than your vendor does and if I were desperate I would probably make the phone call myself, but only after I had asked the estate agent to explain the situation and talked to my solicitor too - just to try and get some action from the other side first.  

I know my solicitors are highly experienced and would understand that the certificate is probably lodged as a random plot number before the postcode was issued.   Years of reading this forum tells me that inexperienced or cheap conveyancers have no flexibility of thought or practical understanding of dealing with BC as a builder, they just want the cert.  

Clear as mud?!  I'm not telling you to call BC because people get paid for it, but if it were me and I lost patience, I would.  

middleagedriver

Doozergirl said:

middleagedriver said:

Doozergirl said:

middleagedriver said:

user1977 said:

middleagedriver said:

local search indicates council do not have this 

Has anybody actually checked with the council, given it's them who would have issued it? The usual problem is "not looking for it properly" e.g. if the local search just checked under "21 Acacia Avenue", they're not going to find "Plot 54 Phase III The Willows" or whatever the builders knew it as. I expect it was signed off, especially if it has NHBC cover.

No, nobody at the Nationwide actually wants to see it, this is just part of the lender's standard instructions to the solicitors, so it's the solicitor who needs to tick it off their list. And even if you didn't have a lender who wanted it, you'd want to get it for your own purposes (because you'll be asked the same question when you sell).

That is reassuring that you think it will be signed off. We do have NHBC as we have the warranty details and the form to change to our name.

Think this issue is if we or seller checks with council we have no chance of an indemnity policy (even if that’s possible) if the council has not signed it off. Very good point about plot number as the NHBC docs ‘Address of Work’ is nothing like the actual address. It’s a plot number and the road that passes the estate.

This is a slightly different situation because an indemnity policy for a new build is almost never an option.  It's a big deal. 

But it's also that case that the 10 year warranty exists and that means that there has to be a Building Control Completion Certificate.  There would be no warranty without the certificate.  

In these circumstances I would contact Building Control but it needs to be the vendor that does this. If it's not showing on the searches then someone's going to have to do a manual search based on the whole development rather current address, as user1977 alludes to above.  

Thanks for that. Our solicitor has explained it’s important but we’ve never spoke about indemnity policy yet.

Our vendor is a bit slow if I’m honest and doesn’t seem to understand the urgency. Would building control just refuse to speak to me?

You can call them, but it isn't your house or your responsibility and I'm strongly of the opinion that if someone is going to ruin the potential of an indemnity policy when it needs to be on the vendor's behalf.  Even if an indemnity isn't an option currently and the likelihood of the certificate not existing is probably zero.  

It is your agent's responsibility to let them know of the urgency of this situation, but I do also understand the situation better than your vendor does and if I were desperate I would probably make the phone call myself, but only after I had asked the estate agent to explain the situation and talked to my solicitor too - just to try and get some action from the other side first.  

I know my solicitors are highly experienced and would understand that the certificate is probably lodged as a random plot number before the postcode was issued.   Years of reading this forum tells me that inexperienced or cheap conveyancers have no flexibility of thought or practical understanding of dealing with BC as a builder, they just want the cert.  

Clear as mud?!  I'm not telling you to call BC because people get paid for it, but if it were me and I lost patience, I would.  

Thanks for the detailed response. We have certainly lost patience. This enquiry has been on the initial enquiries raised back in June so we have gave them chance.

I think I’m going to contact my solicitor tomorrow and confirm that an indemnity policy is not possible then just ring building control.

dannim12345

Could try the original builder? Not sure they would help but could be worth a go. 

middleagedriver

dannim12345 said:

Could try the original builder? Not sure they would help but could be worth a go. 

That will be my next place to ask

Troy_af

Out of curiosity, is this required because the property is less than 10 years old? Or is this required for any age property?

First home I bought was 6 year old and this was definitely raised in the enquires. However, the property im buying now has just went past 10 year old and this has not been brought up. So maybe it is not required after 10 years? If this is the case then the lack of certificate may not be much of a problem for you in the future, provided that you can find a lender now which accepts this of course.