Chris
Two things I’d like to make people aware of:
1. We’re just coming to the end of a build, and it is evident that ‘Practical Completion’ and handover will come before the Code Compliance Certificate will be issued by the Council. I believe this is a fairly common situation.
I did ensure that our building contract made the builder, rather than us as the Owner, responsible for obtaining the CCC. But I now realise that the Building Consent was issued in our name, so as far as the Council is concerned we are still legally responsible for applying for and obtaining the CCC, even if the builder does it on our behalf. In retrospect I wonder if we should have used the contract to ensure that the builder (or maybe his architect) acted as our ‘agent’ in both applying for BC & RC, and obtaining the CCC. Anyone have any comments?
2. Once you reach Practical Completion, and handover, I believe the builder’s Contractor’s All Risks and Public Liability insurance will no longer cover your house. So you need your own house insurance. But it seems ‘normal’ insurance companies like AMI (who we used before) will not give you cover until the CCC is issued. Has anyone found a way round this?