Found out house as no building regs for upgrade work after we purchased

Soozegirl

Long story.  
Bought house in 2021 which has a large extension block.  This extension was started in 2012 and has pp and building regs - all good. Not sure when finally complete but the building regs cert is dated 2018.  However, was classed as an 'outbuilding' for incidental use.
2018 house is sold to Sellers. 
Sellers sell to us in 2021.  Between 2018-2020 they did extensive upgrades to the block - en suite, bedrooms, etc - all insulated, nice flooring, decorated etc etc.  They did NOT disclose any of this upgrade work on the property info form - they ticked 'no' to works done/planning permissions needed etc. so we did not realise (until now) that the lovely bedrooms etc. were done after the initial building regs cert granted in 2018 (for the original extension) and they do not have any certificates for the work done 2018-2020.  The sales brochure detailed these rooms as 'bedrooms' etc. and the property was marketed as a '5 bed house'.  As far as planning goes, I have now been assured that the use of the rooms is ok.  However, they did not get building regs to turn them into 'habitable rooms'.  So we are left with a large house with two bedrooms (plus other rooms) which do not have building regs to be used as such!  The work has likely been done to the standards that existed in 2020, but we are not sure all of it was.  What do we do?  
I understand that getting indemnity will cover us if we ever sell, but we want the house to be 'right' now so that we can legitimately use it safely and as we bought it.  They did provide the appropriate certificates for the electrical work and the gas heating system installation. 
To further add to the nightmare, they also removed two adjoining garage doors to make one large single door - again, without building regs!  and we now understand that should have had planning permission too. They have now provided us with the structural engineer report covering the building work.  Why not get the actual building regs??
We assumed (obviously wrongly) that the building regs cert and the pp docs provided related to the house we bought as it was at that time - because they never declared that they had done any other, newer works so we thought the documentation was up to date.
If we call building regs in to 'regularise' the situation, will they make us upgrade to current standards ie not the standards in place in c2019?  Does anyone have any experience of this and did it go well?!  How understanding are building regs people likely to be?
In short, they were selling the property as a large house, but only renovating the extension block  to a standard suitable for non-habitable spaces.

Section62

Soozegirl said:

As far as planning goes, I have now been assured that the use of the rooms is ok.

Who gave you that assurance?

Soozegirl said:

If we call building regs in to 'regularise' the situation, will they make us upgrade to current standards ie not the standards in place in c2019?  Does anyone have any experience of this and did it go well?!  How understanding are building regs people likely to be?
In short, they were selling the property as a large house, but only renovating the extension block  to a standard suitable for non-habitable spaces.

Regularisation is done to the regulations which applied at the time of the build, not the current ones.  But if there is something which might pose a danger (although complying with the relevant regs) then BC might suggest modification to the current requirements.

The main issue for regularisation is having to 'expose' parts of the building so they can be inspected.  For example this might involve making holes in the walls so things like structure or insulation can be checked.

Soozegirl

Ahh. thank you.
Assurance was given by a Planning guy who used to work for the LA - and I've done lots of research!  
We are reasonably confident that the work was done to the regs in 2020 - Sellers blamed Covid for not having a paper trail. We don't mind having to do remedial works - just hoping that the cost isn't astronomical!  And feeling cheesed off that Sellers didn't take out any sort of indemnity themselves so that we could have claimed on it!  

Soozegirl

Of course, it would be wonderful if the Sellers actually had done 'nothing' and the 2018 building regs cert does cover the building as they bought it (and then sold it to us) with the upgraded rooms ie with no changes.  How do I go about proving this?  That would solve the issue I suppose?!

silvercar

I understand that getting indemnity will cover us if we ever sell, but we want the house to be 'right' now so that we can legitimately use it safely and as we bought it.  

You rely on your survey as to whether it was safe. Generally people don't want to put their own family at risk, so safety is usually a concern - even if it isn't certified.

When you come to sell, this issue would be historical. The easiest thing to do would be to do nothing. When you come to sell you produce the certificate given to you and quote your buyer's responses.  

Soozegirl

Thank you.  Yes, we have thought about that option.  Our surveyor did ask us and our solicitor to check for the pp and building regs certs.  The sellers provided them - but as I said above, they were dated 2018 and, we think, relating to the building from when it was built in 2012ish and beyond. Because they said they had carried out 'no' works, we did not think there were any other certs to find!  It is only because we are looking at doing some more upgrades that all of this came to light.  The works we now want to do will include getting building regs - is the building guy likely to pick up on anything else not covered by our current ideas?  In other words, is he going to come round and look at a door I want altering and then start going on about roof insulation upstairs?!!
Like I said before, I'm reasonably confident the work is Ok and we do have the electrical and gas certificates etc. There is insulation in the roof, walls etc and we are reasonably confident that it is up to standard (2019ish).  It's just the regs concerning the two upstairs rooms which are used as bedrooms (although they were originally built as storage rooms above the garage).   The ceiling/floor between garage and room above is all up to fire standards.  I think a window will need upgrading.
Tbh I think the original extension (done by  the owner - a builder! -  of the house) was all built with the intention that it would one day become part of the main dwelling. It is even physically attached to the main dwelling (as per the original pp) by a fairly decent porch area with tiled roof etc etc so totally attached/in keeping and  I have read that, in that case, it would always have been considered part of the main house, so I am confused that they gave it 'incidental' use rather than residential.  It is even referred to as an 'extension' on the pp.
The whole property has been a bit of a headache since we moved in - mainly due to the lack of honesty by the sellers in various aspects.