Cert of compliance - who can get this ?

Hi
We have been following up on a house for some time at this stage and now we are almost at the point of closing the deal. Contracts are exchanged now (yippee) and solicitor is now just waiting for information about planning . I think the main thing he needs is called a 'cert of compliance' . I know that this wouldn't have been available up til now and the vendor may not have gotten around to getting someone in to do so , and I don't want any further delays in closing.

So - 1) can the vendor issue this himself or does it have to be a third party (vendor is an engineer)
2) If third party, does this person have to be hired by vendor or could we hire them? We have already paid a surveyor to do a structural survey etc and he checked over plans and they are now OK . could I ask him to provide cert of compliance if vendor is slow to provide ? Does anyone have idea of costs on this ? Although we've had verbal sign off and we know plans have recently gone through planning process for retention, I think that solicitor won't allow us to close unless he has the cert - is that the normal procedure? Any input appreciated.

Yes you will need a cert of compliance before the mortgage lenders will release the funds.

You will need to consult the lenders as they may require the cert of compliance to be completed on their own format/template.

Find a qualified independent engineer to complete this! If the vendor is qualified he will be able to complete and stamp this form!

If it is a second hand house the lender won't require the cert to complete, but your solicitor will. The vendors' solicitor should have had these with the title deeds.

I don't think it's good practice to issue a certificate of compliance for your own property so I'd imagine a third party would need to survey the house. The seller really should have had this ready to go before putting the house on the market.

A 'third party' cannot certify that foundations / insulation to walls / various other works covered up etc. have have been constructed in accordance with the building regulations and technical guidelines- without the opening up of such works ie. huge expense, therefore, whomever supervised (the engineer in this case) the works from start to completion is realistically the only person qualified to issue a cert of compliance.

I still would feel a little queasy about the seller furnishing his or her own certificate of compliance. There is not necessarily a huge expense in opening up these kinds of works - a small excavation to check out the foundation depth, a discrete bore through the dry lining etc.

The only reason it's not common practice to do this kind of thing is because people don't insist on it. In my opinion a cert of compliance issued without regard for "works covered up" is useless. But I still would not accept a cert from someone with a vested interest in the sale.

Thanks for the input on this . The house has actually just gone through a retention of planning process which has been a nailbiting experience. Is the cert of compliance more in relation to the building of the house (which may then mean it's probably already available as it's second hand ) or does it need to cover compliance with planning (or both)? I did get a structual survey and boundary check done for ourselves and that's when the planning issue was found. If the vendor could sign off on this I'd be satisifed as we had verbal sign off from our own surveyor. At this stage it's really to keep us covered so that there's no issues down the road and of course to allow us to close . If anyone has info as to what this covers I'd appreciate it .

The certificate of compliance, as I'm sure your solicitor should have explained to you, is most likely to certify that the house (or extension) was built in compliance with the planning regulations and/or the terms of the planning permission granted (after the fact, in your seller's case, as it's a retention).

Your solicitor will most likely be the best judge of who should issue the certificate. I would be surprised if he or she allows the vendor to issue this himself, but I've been surprised before. Any costs associated with the certificate should be borne by the seller.