Missing Electrical Compliance Certificate and other important documents

Martisha

We are in the process of buying home and just have been notified by our solicitors that the seller does not have a copy of Electrical Compliance Certificate, Gas Boiler Installation Certificate and possibly Building Regulation Certificate for construction of the property.
House is 7 years old and he is a second owner of this house.
What do you think?
I am thinking of walking out, as I am worried that will have problems selling it in the future.

Robin9

Has the property a NHBC certificate ? That gives you a 10 year guarantee.

I've never seen any of these certs for the properties I've bought - 1 new build and 3 second hand.

user1977

Martisha said:

We are in the process of buying home and just have been notified by our solicitors that the seller does not have a copy of Electrical Compliance Certificate, Gas Boiler Installation Certificate and possibly Building Regulation Certificate for construction of the property.
House is 7 years old and he is a second owner of this house.
What do you think?
I am thinking of walking out, as I am worried that will have problems selling it in the future.

What's your solicitor's advice? What do you mean by "possibly" building regulation certificate? Has anybody bothered to check with the council whether it was issued?

I don't think you need the electrical/boiler certs if they were all covered by the building regs for the original construction. It's hardly a big deal anyway.

Martisha

My solicitors want these documments:

Please supply planning permission and a building regulations completion

certificate for construction of the property.
as the property was built after 01/04/2005, please supply a

compliance certificate in respect of the developer’s gas boiler installation.
Regarding 12.2, as the property was built after 01/05/2005, please supply a

compliance certificate in respect of the developer’s electrical installation.

Seller responded that he does not have them.

My solicitors suggested indemnity insurance, so it is a red flag for me.

The property does have 3 years remaining of NHBC and we have a copy of that.

user1977

So no, nobody's checked with the council? Or the original developer? It would be daft to flounce off at this stage. It would be immensely unlikely that it would be signed off for NHBC but not compliant with building regulations.

Badger_Lady

Yeah - it's more likely the current owner just isn't great at filing documents, which wouldn't surprise me. I'm selling at the moment and have carefully saved the electric certificate for the last 14 years, but I don't know if I ever saw the gas boiler one (I'vetemailed the fitters to ask), and it's possible that the double glazing never had a certificate but my lawyers will just stump up (and charge to me) £75 indedmnity insurance and that will cover the buyer against any future challenges.

It's all finnicky details at this stage in the purchase process - it certainly doesn't mean the house is any less 'good'. I'd want something much more serious before considering pulling out of a home I've fallen for.

Jonboy_1984

Worst case Electrical certification can always be replaced with a new EICR (electrical installation condition report) when you come to sell, or you could arrange one yourself at your expense if you have any real concerns about the installation (E.g.the first property we bought literally had wires with electrical tape covering them hanging out the wall where a wall lights had been removed and from an aborted shower installation….)

Gas boiler - just ask for most recent service report as that should be more useful in real terms.

CSI_Yorkshire

If a missing and unnecessary piece of paper about a nearly-new house is a red flag for you, there are going to be very few properties that you will feel comfortable buying.

Do you actually think there is anything wrong with the electrics or boiler?

Badger_Lady

Actually I just found this - £6-odd to order a replacement compliance certificate for the boiler. So either your solicitor can do that or they can demand the seller do it: https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/gas-safety/gas-safety-certificates-records/