No Completion Certificate on 4 yr old house

[rsv gone!]

I've used Local Authorities for building control plenty of times in the past and had no issues getting NHBC warranties. Unless there has been a recent change, you don't have to use NHBC for building control in order to get an NHBC warranty.

[V8RX7]

rsv gone! said:

I've used Local Authorities for building control plenty of times in the past and had no issues getting NHBC warranties. Unless there has been a recent change, you don't have to use NHBC for building control in order to get an NHBC warranty.

But it's cheaper, easier and usual for Nat. Developers to only use the NHBC (as they get huge discounts)

[MintSprint]

V8RX7 said:

But it's cheaper, easier and usual for Nat. Developers to only use the NHBC (as they get huge discounts)

I've used both LABC Warranty/Buildng Control and NHBC Warranty/Builing Control, but wouldn't dream of splittng them. LABC tend to be the easier (more helpful and pragmatic) bunch to work with, but their systems aren't quite as good and joined-up as the NHBC's. Large developers get huge discounts from both, but even small developers can get some discount.

Using LABC for Building Control and NHBC for warranty strikes me the worst of both worlds - you get the NHBC Warranty Inspectors' anal jobsworth attitude to enforcing the Standards, but divorced from their sophisticated coordination between the Building Control and Warranty surveying functions (in fact it's worse than that, 'cos you're making two teams work together who don't know each other's systems and standards very well)... plus you lose out on a discount for keeping your business in the one place.

What possible advantage do you see from LABC Building Control with NHBC Warranty? Never heard of such a thing before...

[rsv696]

Well, it turns out the house has never been issued with a completion certificate because 7 council inspections are required on the development & so far only 2 have been done.

Those which are inspected have to be newly finished & our intended purchase will therefore escape the air pressure test due to its age. A certificate will be issued once the 7 inspections have been done, but in the meantime the developer is trying to wangle one early for our intended purchase on the grounds that it should really be available 4 yrs after construction & it's jeopardising a sale.

In the meantime, with just over one day to go to the planned moving date we still haven't exchanged because, apart from the Completion Certificate shenanigans above (1) Our vendor's been out of the country & likes to take at least 3 days to respond to any form of communication (2) His solicitor's decided to take some holiday at the eleventh hour (3) Our buyers kindly lodged their deposit late.

If we instruct a removal company & it all goes tits up we lose a large percentage of the removal fee.

All in all it's been a thoroughly miserable experience, but we're almost there...

[Durzel]

rsv696 said:

The current owner WAS able to secure a mortgage on the property, which is surprising, although the LTV is obviously not known. He is unable to produce a completion certificate. I agree it's his responsibility to sort it out, but he's out of the country, speaks poor English, couldn't be relied upon to sit the correct way on a toilet seat & time is running out.

Brilliant! I'm stealing that to use in the future.

On topic: Nothing constructive to add I'm afraid, but hope you ultimately get it resolved to your satisfaction.

[rsv696]

Well, the move went ahead & we're in! Council issued a last minute Completion Certificate & we exchanged 18hrs before the removal men arrived.

Now it's just the usual stuff to deal with : broken dishwasher, no tv connection, 2 blocked showers, loads of junk left, several missing keys, numerous blown bulbs, no alarm code, no instruction manuals... you get the picture. Oh and we can't have a landline or broadband for 2 weeks so this comes to you via the magical powers of 3G!

Thanks to all who offered assistance. Hopefully this experience will help others in the future.