Sometimes a property for sale will have had recent building works completed that have not been approved by Building Control. As a vendor/purchaser of such a property you will have various options to resolve this prior to purchase/sale.

You may be advised to take out an indemnity policy to cover you for any enforcement action that Building Control may decide to take, providing they are not already aware of the unauthorised works. These policies offer a quick and relatively cheap solution.

However, often these policies do not provide adequate protection due to time limits in the small print. More importantly they do not ensure that the property is safe – the main reason for building regulations. An indemnity policy will protect you from enforcement from Building Control but will not help you to correct any structural issues that arise; your home insurance policy may be invalidated if it is found that your property was not signed off by building control. Please see link below for advice from the L.A.B.C.

https://www.labc.co.uk/news/no-building-regulations-approval-whats-solution

We provide specialist reports for property buyers / sellers. If you are involved with a property that does not have building regulations approval for certain works we can:

– carry out a site inspection to assess the level of compliance with the building regulations (completed by ex-building inspectors),

– provide a report (sample page attached) highlighting the areas of work that don’t comply,

– suggest the potential risk to life if the works are not compliant,

– suggest the likelihood of enforcement,

– suggest cost implications of putting works right (completed by a qualified QS),

– provide a quote to submit a building regulations regularisation application to the local council on behalf of the client.

– act as the client’s agent during the building regulations process to achieve retrospective approval + sign-off.

Please click for an example report. Regularisation report example