If a sale stalls, this is the first thing to check. An extension, an attic room, a converted garage — built years ago, perfectly good, and with no paperwork whatsoever to show that it was permitted or that it complies.
What Is Required, and Why Exemption Is Not Enough
A certificate of compliance is a professional opinion from a suitably qualified architect, engineer or surveyor confirming that development at the property complies with planning permission and building regulations — or that it was exempted development requiring no permission. It is not issued by the local authority: the professional certifying takes responsibility for it. A buyer’s solicitor will require it for anything built or materially altered, and a lender will insist on it. Here is the point that catches sellers: even where no permission was needed, a certificate confirming that is generally still required. Certain works are exempt subject to conditions and limits — on size, on location relative to the building, on remaining private open space, on the use of the structure — and whether a particular extension fell within them is a question of fact and measurement that a buyer’s solicitor cannot take on the seller’s word. Exemption means no permission was needed. It does not mean no paperwork is needed. The two structures that cause the most difficulty are attic conversions and garage conversions, because owners frequently do not think of them as development at all — and building regulations compliance for a habitable room engages means of escape, stair design, insulation and ventilation.
When It Cannot Be Certified — and How to Avoid All of This
The options depend on the facts. It may be possible to regularise the position through an application for retention permission, which takes time and is not guaranteed. It may be possible to modify the works so they can be certified. The parties may agree that the buyer takes the risk, reflected in the price and in a special condition in the contract — though a mortgaged buyer frequently cannot accept that, because their lender will not. And in a small number of cases the position simply cannot be resolved, which affects marketability for as long as it persists. Where a planning issue is genuinely contentious rather than administrative, that is separate work again, covered at planningsolicitors.ie. But the honest conclusion for most sellers is far simpler: find the documents before you go to market, and if they do not exist, arrange the certification then. Look at everything built or altered since you bought — extension, attic, garage, conservatory, garden room, and on rural property any new structure at all. If a previous owner did the work and you have nothing, say so at the outset. It is common, it is usually solvable, and it takes time — which is precisely why it should start before a buyer is sitting waiting.
Built Something and Cannot Find the Paperwork?
Extremely common, usually solvable, and much better started now than in week six of a sale. The first question is simply what was built, when, and how big.
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