Building control signed off works but buyer's solicitor says not compliant

[kirinm]

In the process of what was supposedly a smooth sale. We've agreed to go into rented as we haven't been able to find anything to buy. Estate agent called me yesterday saying buyer wants to complete early Jan. Fine, all good.

Today, my solicitor has contacted me to say the buyer's solicitor doesn't think the layout of our flat complies with Building Regs. There's no request that we do anything, it's just a statement made.

Our flat was signed off as complaint by Building Control in April this year and the buyer had the certificate of completion. In October we were told the survey was fine and nothing major had come up.

I'm not sure what's going to happen. If it falls through, so be it. But what usually happens in this sort of situation? Their surveyor apparently doesn't agree with Building Control, so what? Are we meant to change things to satisfy their surveyor (theoretically- because we wouldn't) or do we have to go back to Building Control?

It's really pissed me off as we've been flexible with moving out as the buyer was so keen but it's taken her 2 months to bring this up with no real explanation as to what she is expecting from us.

What a pain. I would ignore or reply with So?

That's basically what we've said.

They've had drawings, electrical certificates, gas certificates, fensa certs etc. I really think that BC would have picked up on any issues if they were worried about it.

I would think that Building Control are the experts on building control, not a conveyancing solicitor. Regulations change all the time. what was compliant 10 years ago may not be compliant now, but if it complied at the time, it's fine.

I’d just go back along the lines of it obviously is compliant as it has been signed off by building control. What are you talking about you idiot

It's apparently their surveyor who suggests it doesn't comply. Statement came via solicitor.

But the bottom line has to be that it was signed off so raise it with BC if you've got a problem?

I suppose you could check with your solicitor what the legal implications, if any, of your buyer's solicitor issuing a standalone statement (Is it leaving a hook for a post-completion claim?) and ask whether you should sit on your hands or reply.

A reply could be to the solicitor or to the buyer and could include a 'put up or shut u' - Building control signed off the property. Kindly confirm whether you would like another copy of the approval or do you want to withdraw and should we put the property on the market?

Good luck.

It's probably obvious but I would strongly advise not doing things you mention in your OP.

The surveyor might have raised a doubt about whether it complies. He doesn’t know whether BC have signed it off or not, so basically he is just raising something he suggests the buyers should check. The buyers can see the BC certificate you have so that should be the end of the matter.

We are just going to say we've given you the documents we have. Can't do much else when they aren't really asking any questions.

I don't intend on doing anything and won't be getting in touch with BC unless it becomes clear that something is very wrong (which I don't think it is)!

Is this the kind of thing which can be covered by an indemnity policy? We bought a house with an old renovation not compliant but we bought a policy to cover us in the event anyone ever took issue with it. It wasn’t that expensive. As this is a layout issue it may not apply, but it could be worth asking your solicitor?

Surely that's for the buyer to sort? As far as we are concerned, everything is compliant.

I’d just resend the building certificate and tell them to get a move one as there wasn’t going to be any renegotiation on the price.

Now be truthful, do you have a toilet in the kitchen OP?

We had a similar issue and just paid for an indemnity - think it was £100

Sometimes people get BC sign off and then modify things - take down a door or bannisters or something. Might they be worried about that? Have thy given any indication of what they think the problem is?

I'd probably reply that it's all as it was when it was inspected and nothing has been modified since BC sign off.

No I don't think so. Sign off was April this year and it was the removal of walls, steel joist installed and relocation of kitchen. It's evident from the plans that this is what's changed.

An indemnity is not worth the paper it’s written on.

It’s highly unlikely a surveyor will know more than the building control professional that issued the certificate. Nor would the surveyor have access to the design which may have been fire engineered to demonstrate compliance.

There are several routes to compliance, it’s not always simplistic.

Why on earth are people talking about indemnity policies? It’s been signed off by building control, that is all that is needed. There is nothing to indemnify against.

Because they don't know what they are talking about!

Clearly

Clearly the other party needs to say exactly what they perceive to be the issue. You aren't a mindreader are you? So they should state precisely what they are on about.

When we bought our house, the vendors had converted part of the garage into a "habitable" room (I use inverted commas because it was done very poorly and is most definitely not habitable). They installed a window in the side of the house without any permission. They provided paperwork to say that it had been done more than 7 years earlier (I think that was over the time limit that the council could do anything about it) and offered an indemnity policy. My solicitor arranged the policy, but it was effectively paid for by the vendor as part of the completion payment.

I would stand firm initially saying, as you have, that the local authority building control have signed off on the property as it is, so if they have an issue with it, then they should bring it to the attention of the council, not you.

If they threaten to pull out of the purchase, then you could offer them an indemnity, though I note PP point about the fact that being signed off should mean there is nothing to indemnify against.

I'm not sure what else they want you to do, though I wouldn't be surprised if you received a "in light of the concerns about building regs, we have been reconsidering our offer" email.

As it stands, short of any legal costs you might have already incurred, it doesn't sound like you have much to lose if you call their bluff.

@ElaborateCushion yes I did wonder if it was going to amount to a reduced offer.

I don't think the buyer realises how unbothered we would be about stopping the sale since trying to find an extremely expensive rental for an unknown period of time in deep winter isn't something we are overjoyed about!

I don’t think you can get an indemnity policy for works carried out less than a year ago (I’ve just sold a flat with similar issues as was told this).
i wouldn’t even offer that as a solution, stick to your guns that you have the permissions. Surveyors are surprisingly clueless on building regs, as PP said they just try to cover their backs in case it comes up in future.