Completion certificate or warranty: do you need both?

The short answer

A Building Control completion certificate and a structural warranty or PCC do different jobs, so one doesn't normally stand in for the other. The certificate shows the work was signed off under the Building Regulations. A warranty or PCC is what a lender usually looks for on a home under ten years old, because it gives them something to rely on beyond that sign-off.

So if you have a completion certificate and a solicitor still wants a warranty, nothing has gone wrong. They're asking for a second, separate document. Whether you need it comes down to what the lender involved will accept.

What a completion certificate tells you

When building work is finished, Building Control confirms it's satisfied the work meets the Building Regulations. If your council's Building Control team handled the job, you get a completion certificate. If a private Building Control company handled it, you get a final certificate. Solicitors tend to treat the two as doing the same job.

It's an important document, and you should keep it safe. But it has limits:

• It shows the work was checked against the Building Regulations, which are minimum standards.
• It isn't a guarantee that the building is free from defects.
• It doesn't give you financial protection, or a way to claim if a defect shows up later.

What a warranty or PCC adds

There are two main documents lenders look for on a newer home:

• An insurance-backed structural warranty is a policy covering certain structural defects for a set period, usually ten years.
• A Professional Consultant's Certificate (PCC), often called an architect's certificate, is signed by a qualified professional who inspected the work at key stages. It's backed by that professional's own indemnity insurance. It isn't an insurance policy.

The two aren't the same, and they don't give the same protection. Our guide to PCCs and structural warranties compares them side by side.

Why your solicitor is asking for both

No law says a home has to have a warranty. The request comes from lenders, who want to know the home they're lending against is sound. On a new or recently built home, that usually means a warranty or PCC as well as the Building Control paperwork, and a completion certificate on its own often isn't enough.

This catches people out in three common situations:

• Selling a home you built or converted. It's your buyer's lender that counts, so the question usually arrives through your buyer's solicitor, partway through the sale.
• Remortgaging. Your new lender may ask for documents your first lender never needed.
• Finishing a self-build. A self-build lender may want a warranty or PCC in place before it releases the final payment.

Every lender sets its own rules, so ask exactly what's needed before you pay for anything. Our PCC for a mortgage guide lists the questions to ask.

Which do you need for your project?

• A new home or self-build with a mortgage: expect to need both. Arrange your PCC or warranty before work starts, so each stage can be inspected. See our self-build warranty guide.
• A barn conversion or change of use: usually the same as a new home. See our conversion warranty guide.
• A finished home with a certificate but no warranty: see our guide on what to do with no warranty. A retrospective PCC may be possible, but some lenders won't accept one, so check first.
• No mortgage involved: no lender is asking today, but your buyer's lender may ask if you sell within ten years.
• An extension or loft conversion on an older home: the completion certificate is usually what solicitors want. Warranties and PCCs are mainly for new and converted homes.

If your completion certificate is missing

Ask whoever handled Building Control for a copy. That's your council, or the private company if one was used. Councils may charge a fee for this.

If you think the work was never signed off, speak to your solicitor before contacting the council. Solicitors sometimes use an indemnity policy in this situation, and contact with the council can affect whether one is available. Your council can also tell you whether it can review the work and issue a regularisation certificate. That decision is the council's, so nobody can promise the outcome.

The names and process can differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have their own building standards systems.

What to send us

If you've been asked for a warranty or PCC, send us your project details. It helps to include who asked and exactly what they said, your drawings, your Building Control paperwork and how far the build has got. We'll tell you what's needed and give you a fixed quote. If you'd rather talk it through, get in touch.