The snagging and paperwork checks to make before moving into your newly built home
There are a few essential steps that you must take once the building, decorating and installation work of your home has been finished. This is because you will need to get a formal completion certificate from your local authority before you can move in.
The certificate is important as it shows that all the main stages of the building works have been finished to a satisfactory standard and that all the various conditions of planning permission and Building Regulations have been successfully met.
Ready for inspection?
You should have been given a guide completion date by your contractor – ideally this will have been written into your building contract. Once that date is reached and you are nearly ready to move into your new home, your contractor should notify you or your surveyor, project manager or home-building package supplier that the property requires inspection.
If everything is in place for handover, the formal application to the local authority can be made for the official completion certificate to be produced. This is one of the most important official documents you’ll be given. Without it, your project is not proven to be built and finished to a satisfactory standard and you won’t officially be allowed to live in it.
The certificate doesn’t prove that there aren’t any hidden problems and it isn’t an insurance cover, but if you ever decide to sell your home, the buyer will ask to see this documentation. You should also bear in mind that you won’t be able to apply to HMRC to reclaim VAT without one. Inspection will usually involve a visit and a look around the site, plus the testing of equipment.
Get the paperwork
If you wish to move into the property before the completion certificate is issued, you can do so, but you’ll need to arrange for a Building Control officer to inspect it first with a view to issuing you a temporary occupancy certificate.
You will acquire many other certificates over the course of your self-build project, such as warranties and electrical safety certificates. And you’ll need to find an accredited domestic energy assessor to undertake an energy performance certificate (EPC). Visit the government website for more details (gov. uk/get-new-energy-certificate).
