No Building Regulations Sign-Off for Work on Your Home? Your Options

The certificate may simply be lost. Your council's building control team keeps records of applications and completion certificates, and can often provide a copy.

Some work is signed off by a private building control body instead of the council, now called a registered building control approver. If the council has nothing, ask whether a private body was used.

If no application was ever made, the work was carried out without approval. Who did the work and when it was done will affect your options.

• A regularisation certificate from the council, which approves work after it was done.
• Building regulations indemnity insurance, which covers the cost of enforcement action.
• Telling the buyer and letting them decide, sometimes with a price adjustment.

You apply to the council and pay a fee. An inspector may need to open up parts of the work, such as floors or plaster, to check what is hidden.

If the work does not meet the regulations, you may have to put it right before a certificate is issued. It is slower than insurance, but it deals with the problem itself.

Insurance is quick and inexpensive, but it does not make the work safe or compliant. It is explained in Building Regulations Indemnity Insurance Explained.

For work where safety matters, such as a removed load-bearing wall, a buyer may insist on regularisation. Take your conveyancer's advice before choosing.

Before any new project, agree in writing who will apply for building control approval. How to Find a Trustworthy Builder in the UK covers what else to check.

When the completion certificate arrives, attach it to the job on Propvio so it stays with the home.