No certificate of compliance - any problems?

I am thinking of buying counsins house which also had an extension added, I was part of the building process ie labouring for him, the jod was done 3 yrs ago really great job but as he got all his family to do their part , all are tradesmen sparks, chippy,brickie and himself plumber done it all so I know job is good I even dug foundations myself, but a friend said I should get cert for later on in case I want to sell house on that it would make it go all the more smoothly but counsin says that he never bothered with a cert because it did not need planning permission as it was a small build I am getting ot for about 20K cheaper than others on the site, counsin is so busy that he cant be bothered and he can be short with if I hassle him ie if you dont want the house then dont buy it, but Q is would it cause a problen later on, thanks

Re: No Cert

I would get a cert Dodo, a potential buyer (and their solicitor) will look for a cert of completion. If it did not need planning permission (but you should look into this too; if it did you will have to apply for rentention) and the job complies with building regs/is done properly, an engineer should be able to supply you with a cert. It is worth checking all of this out if you are going to buy the property with a view to selling at some point.

Re: No Cert

Firstly if you need a mortgage to buy, you will have to have a certificate of compliance with building regulations and planning permission. You will also need it if you ever resell. I assume it is only the extension there is no certificate for, but if it really is an exempted developement, then if you hire your own engineer and they are happy to give a cert to that effect that will be fine.

Re: No Cert

Are you getting a mortgage? If you are, your solicitor needs to know about the extension and they will have to "qualify" their certificate of title i.e. your lender will not lend until the problem is rectified.

I had this problem last week when a vendor would not sort it out. The result was that the purchaser engaged his own architect and he certified that (a) the works were exempt from planning and (b) that the build was done in accordance with Building Regulations.

And yes, you will definitley need the cert. when you sell unless you can persuade a purchaser to do as above. Many architects do not like giving retrospective certificates particularly when they had no involvement in the build.

mf

No mortgage needed so can I just get a surveyer in check the whole house and then extension and if he says all is ok then can he give me cert for future reference