Refusal to issue the certificate of completion

The architect will not give me the certificate of completion

It is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that -when there are problems with a detached house-, on our asking them for the Certificate of Completion, the owners reply “that the Architect won’t give it to me”.

It is always because of something –serious- that happened during the works. Some problem, for sure. Sometimes, too, the architect uses it as leverage to get paid, because he has not been paid in full.

The Architect, like any professional who has done their work, must be paid. Of course. But refusing to issue the certificate of completion can in no way serve as a safeguard to avoid fulfilling their liability.

Let us not forget the importance of this document, in which the site management team certifies that the works have been carried out under its supervision, in accordance with the design and technical documentation and good building practice, and that the home is handed over in proper condition for its intended use.

Therefore, in the face of a refusal to issue it, once it has been proved that the works have essentially been completed and handed over (not only on the owner’s word, but proved by an expert report confirming that the works are finished and nothing remains to be done), and provided that no repair or remedy of any observed defects is pending, as recorded in the site order book, and there is no record of the architect having justifiably resigned from directing the works, the Certificate of Completion (CFO) must be issued.

Otherwise, it would be left to the Architect’s sole discretion that no one could sue them in future for their liability, because if they do not issue the certificate, no one can sue them… and then, if that were the case, -simply by refusing to issue the appropriate certificate of completion- this subterfuge would serve to evade their liabilities, the time limits for which start to run from the handover certificate or the issue of this certificate.