Raft Foundation - Certificate of Compliance

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Nutso

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We have a site sale agreed which includes a raft foundation; the site was purchased with the raft insitu. We have never received a certificate of compliance for the raft foundation and I was wondering in what year did it become necessary for certificates of compliance to be issued for raft foundations?

We are ready to close and the buyers are now looking for this although we informed them from the start that we did not have it.

The company who put the raft in has been liquidated. There are 3 rafts, which were put in on neighbouring sites, on which houses have been built with no issues.

Is it possible to get a raft certified at this stage by another individual?

Thanks,
Nutso
 
You need a new engineer to fully inspect the foundation, core it and determine its structural capabilities and what it can and cannot be used for.

This is not something that any engineer should certify based on visual inspection only. Time exposed to the elements will come into play and any evidence of what materials were used in its construction, what fill material, what stone, pyrite free etc etc

When was the raft put in? For what purpose? Who designed it?
 
Thanks for the response kceire.
The raft went in approximately 9-12 years ago. I don't have a more definite date than that.
It was put in to hold 2 x semi-detached houses, however these were not built for economic reasons (unable to get funding). The buyer has received outline planning permission for 1 x detached house.

The advertisement for the site did not include any info on the raft and certification was not a requirement by the purchaser in the contract (which they have signed). Can I assume that they are required to follow through on the sale or forfeit their deposit?
 
If they have already signed the contract, then it's too late for them to add conditions such as this. Not alone are you entitled to keep the deposit, you can pursue them to complete the sale.
 
Thanks Leo, I appreciate the response. I was hoping that was the case. I don't mind looking for something I can get but it's just not possible for me to get what they are looking for.
 
Talk to the solicitor!

General Condition 36 of the Contract gives a vendors' warranty that all planning matters are in order. If this has not been deleted from the Contract, your purchasers may very well be entitled to seek the Certificate.

mf
 
Hi mf1,
I don't think that the planning is relevant here as what they have received planning for is different to what the raft foundation was originally put in for. Due to the change in building regs in the last few years, the raft foundation cannot be certified as being suitable for the new building, so they will have to put in a structural slab or similar anyway in order to comply with current building regs.
Thanks
 
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