Late completion certificate submission without a warrant
Where work has been carried out or a conversion made without a warrant when there should have been a warrant applied for, a completion certificate must still be submitted.
However, in this case the certificate may only be accepted if it confirms that the work or conversion has been carried out in accordance with and now complies with the building regulations applicable at the time of the submission of the completion certificate.
A submission where a warrant was not sought when it should have been must provide plans, specification & details equivalent to those for a building warrant application to allow building standards to adequately assess whether to accept the certificate.
There is also a fee to pay which is 300% of the normal building warrant fee [73KB] . Our service standard [161KB] lets you know what you can expect from us.
Discounts for certificates from approved certifiers of design and approved certifiers of construction are allowed. There is no limit as to how long after the completion of the work a late completion certificate may be submitted but it is always the regulations at the time of submission that must be met.
It therefore becomes increasingly unlikely that work carried out will comply with the current regulations and further work will have to be carried out before a completion certificate can be accepted.
However, as the completion certificate is a late submission it will require to be accompanied by drawings, an appropriate fee and any extra work required to comply can be shown on or added to the drawings as with a building warrant application. It should be noted, however, that if extensive additional works are required, a separate building warrant may need to be submitted.
A certificate from an approved certifier of either design or construction may be part of a completion certificate that has been submitted late but the certifier must assess the work against the regulations applying at the time of the submission of the completion certificate. It is an offence to issue a certificate that is false or misleading, so the certifier must be satisfied, if necessary by checks, inspection or tests, that the work is in compliance.
Please note that in most circumstances where a completion certificate submission without a warrant has been made, we will most likely require areas of work to be exposed for inspection purposes. This may mean the applicant will have to arrange the removal of plasterboard, or the exposing of foundations etc.
