• Indemnity Insurance Policy On A Property Purchase

    By Guest on 02nd Apr 2015

    The house we are buying has a planning application approved conservatory that was built in 2004.
    I contacted the council because the seller said he had no record of the conservatory ever being signed off. The council did it was not a requirement.
    I have since found out that I shouldn't have contacted the council and given out details of the property as I will be unable to buy indemnity insurance.
    What are the alternatives and will it jeopardise my mortgage offer?

  • 1 Answers

    By Guest on 05/04/2015

    If you are talking about the conservatory not being signed off by building control then you first need to establish whether this would even have been required as it often isn't for conservatories. Essentially, if the following is true then building regulations approval is not required:

    It is built at ground level;
    Its floor area is less than 30 square metres;
    It is separated from the house by external quality walls, doors or windows;
    It has its own independent heating system with separate temperature and on / off controls (or no heating system); and
    Access is via a pre-existing external door (so that no new opening is created).

    Even if this is true however the glazing and electrical work will need to comply with the building regulations. Electricians and glazers who are part of a Competent Person's Scheme (such as NICEIC for electricians or FENSA for glazers) can self-certify their work in which case they should issue a certificate of compliance with building regulations. If you can't be satisfied that building regulations did not apply then you may have to get the council to inspect the conservatory (with the seller's consent) and issue retrospective approval.

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