Clay heave

[zetec]

Many years ago, 1988 to be precise, our family home was diagnosed with clay heave. I was around 14 at the time so I don't remember much. It was found during a survey as the house was to be sold. All the work was carried out buy a contractor appointed by the building insurance company, the NHBC were involved too as the property was under 10 years old.

Fastforward to today, the property is still owned by my Mum who has lived away from it, it has been rented out for nearly 20 years, Mum is retiring and the property is now up for sale. Buyers have been found and a price agreed, however, Mum has had to declare the clay heave in the sellers pack, this has obviously made the buyers wary.

The buyers are asking for a certificate?

Mum has been through all the paperwork and can't find a certificate, she has paperwork from the engineers that did the works but no certificate. My late Father dealt with it all at the time, if he was still around he would know if there was a certificate and where it was.

My questions are, would the NHBC have records of the works and if so would they be able to provide a copy of a certificate?

Many thanks

[blueg33]

Definately worth trying the NHBC. If you hav ethe engineers report, try and contact them, they may have a copy?

[TA14]

The buyers should commission their own report from a Structural Engineer. This will determine whether there has been any movement in the last 26 years and whether there is any apparent factor which may cause movement. I don't see that any certificate would be much use anyway - it would only tell you about the state of the property 26 years ago and surely any guarantee would have run out.

[silverthorn2151]

TA14 said:

The buyers should commission their own report from a Structural Engineer. This will determine whether there has been any movement in the last 26 years and whether there is any apparent factor which may cause movement. I don't see that any certificate would be much use anyway - it would only tell you about the state of the property 26 years ago and surely any guarantee would have run out.

I agree, the passage of time makes anything that was said, done or recorded at the time only useful for information sake, at best. They may be referring to a completion certificate from the Local Authority and I'm not sure they were available back then in the form they are now.

It's up to the buyer to satisfy themselves.

[andy43]

Too old I reckon - you would be unlikely to find a policy still in force after this amount of time.
ASUC warranties are a max of 12 years I think - ours is anyway.
Up to the buyer to pay for a survey/whatever makes them happy.

[zetec]

Thanks for the replies.

Mum has been in touch with the NHBC and the engineers that did the work, both are confident that they can provide details of what happened and what was done. I am certain that there was never any certificate as it would certainly be with the paperwork Mum has.

I have spoken to the Estate Agent just so I can get a picture in my mind of what is needed, he agrees a certificate is not worth the paper it is written on, just like a MOT certificate, however it's what the buyers want to continue. They won't commit to a survey until they have what they want.

[TA14]

For a small sum, if you're lucky and the original SE's are still in business you may be able to get them to draw up a certificate (they may even give you a ten or twenty year guarantee running from the date that the work was done, although that may involve inspecting the house which would mean another fee.) OK, it's all a bit daft but you seem to be in a daft situation really. Normally your solicitor would talk to their solicitor and tell their solicitor to speak to his clients about the sensible way to proceed. Good luck, you may need it.