Certificate of completion
What is the certificate of completion?
What must the certificate of completion contain?
Liability of the parties involved in the construction under the certificate of completion.
Start of the guarantee periods from the certificate of completion.
What is the certificate of completion?
It is a document certifying that works for which a licence was originally applied for have been completed. Here you can see a SAMPLE certificate of completion.
But it is not just a matter of officially declaring the works finished; it also has considerable legal significance as regards liability and the guarantee periods that start to run.
What must the certificate of completion contain?
The certificate of completion describes the type of works carried out, the location and the building licence file number, and identifies the main parties involved in the construction: the developer, the building contractor, the designer, the works director and the site manager.
Above all, the site management team certifies that everything built corresponds to the design and that everything is in order. The document must also be endorsed by the professional associations of the architect and the quantity surveyor.
Liability of the parties involved in the construction under the certificate of completion.
As we have said, the legal liability of the parties involved in the construction can be inferred from this document.
Specifically, the site manager (the quantity surveyor) certifies:
That the material execution of the works described has been carried out under their direction, having controlled the construction and the quality of what has been built, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in accordance with the design, the technical documentation developing it and good building practice.
And the works director (the architect, who may or may not also be the designer) certifies:
That the building described has been completed under my direction in accordance with the design for which the licence was granted and the technical documentation supplementing it, and is ready for proper use in accordance with the instructions for use and maintenance.
The site management team will therefore be liable in accordance with what is stated in that certificate and within its sphere of legal liability under the Spanish Building Act (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación, LOE).
Start of the guarantee periods from the certificate of completion.
It is generally known that the LOE guarantee periods start to run from the signing of the certificate of completion.
Strictly speaking, however, under article 6.5 of the LOE the periods start to run from the “handover certificate of the works”, which is usually dated a little after the certificate of completion is signed. Handover is the act by which the building contractor, once the works are finished, delivers them to the developer, who accepts them. At that point the documentation and the certificate of completion signed by the site management team are handed over. Even so, it is always easier to obtain the certificate of completion, which may be kept in the Building Logbook or in the local council’s file, than the handover certificate.
However, if you have any questions about how to obtain it, or what happens if they refuse to issue it, get in touch with us.
Any questions?