Certificates of Compliance

A recommendation was published in the Gazette in December 1979 whereby the profession was advised that Architects’ Certificates of Compliance with the Conditions in Planning Permissions and/or Bye Law Approvals should not normally be sought prior to 1970 and in the Gazette of August 1989 it was suggested that the date be changed to 1975. It has come to the attention of the Conveyancing Committee of the Law Society that a number of practitioners are unaware of the fact that this recommendation does not refer to the following:

(a) Commercial or industrial properties.

(b) Any alteration or extension to ANY premises since 1st October 1964 which would require Planning Permission and/or Bye Law Approval; and

It is not clear from General Condition 36 of the current edition of the Law Society Contract for Sale that this recommendation does not relate to commercial properties. The contract is currently under review and the condition will be suitably amended in the next edition.