Before we start: this guide covers new homes in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own building regulations, and what a particular job needs depends on the design, the building control body and the client's contract. Treat it as a starting point and check the requirements for each job.

Why the handover pack matters

Building control won't issue its completion or final certificate until it has seen evidence that the notifiable work was done properly. Housebuilders won't release the final payment, or your retention, until the plot's paperwork is complete. Warranty providers, mortgage lenders and buyers' solicitors all ask for the same documents later on.

Most of these certificates come from different trades, at different times, in different formats. The work is usually right. What causes the delay at handover is a missing signature, an expired qualification or a certificate nobody can find.

Electrical: the EIC and Part P

New electrical installations are certified with an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) to BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations. It records the design, construction, inspection and testing of the installation, with a schedule of test results, and it's signed by the people responsible for each of those stages. On a small job that can be one person signing for all three.

Electrical work in a new dwelling is also notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations. Most electricians do this through a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT: the registered installer notifies the work, and the scheme issues a Building Regulations compliance certificate. The alternative is notifying building control before the work starts, so that they can inspect it.

Gas and heating: Gas Safe and Benchmark

Gas work must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Installing a new boiler or gas appliance is notifiable, and the registered engineer notifies it through Gas Safe Register, which then issues a Building Regulations compliance certificate for the property.

Alongside it, the installer completes the Benchmark commissioning checklist, an industry scheme run by the heating manufacturers. It records how the boiler and system were commissioned and is left with the home. Manufacturers usually ask for it before they'll honour a warranty claim, so a missing Benchmark is a common snag at handover.

Unvented hot water: G3

An unvented hot water cylinder holding more than 15 litres falls under Part G3. The installer needs to be competent in unvented systems, which normally means holding a G3 qualification. The installation is notified through a competent person scheme or building control, and the commissioning record is kept with the home's paperwork.

Ventilation: Part F commissioning

Under Part F, mechanical ventilation in a new dwelling has to be commissioned, and its air flow rates measured and recorded. Building control needs to see the results. The occupier should also be given information on how the system works and how to maintain it, so a copy belongs in the handover pack as well.

Energy and air tightness: Part L, BREL and the EPC

Since Part L was updated in June 2022, new homes in England need a little more energy evidence than they used to:

  • Air tightness test. Every new dwelling should now be pressure tested. Testing a sample of a development is no longer enough. The tester's results go to building control.
  • BREL report. The Building Regulations England Part L report compares the home's energy performance as designed with the home as built. It's signed and given to building control.
  • Photographic evidence. Photos of key details, such as insulation, junctions and airtightness measures, taken during the build for each dwelling. They're given to building control and to the owner, so they have to be taken at the right stage. You can't take them after the plasterboard is up.
  • On-construction EPC. An accredited energy assessor produces the Energy Performance Certificate and lodges it on the national register. Building control should be told it has been given, and the owner needs a copy.

Smoke and heat alarms

New homes need mains-powered, interlinked smoke alarms, and usually a heat alarm in the kitchen, designed and installed to BS 5839-6. The installer commissions the system and certifies it. Some electricians cover this on the EIC, and others issue a separate commissioning certificate. Either way, building control will want to see it.

Building control completion

With all of the above in hand, the building control body issues its sign-off for the plot. Local authority building control issues a completion certificate, and a Registered Building Control Approver (the name that replaced approved inspectors in 2024) issues a final certificate. This is the document a buyer's solicitor will ask for first, and it depends on everything else being in place.

Where the project falls under CDM 2015 with more than one contractor, the principal designer prepares the Health and Safety File and it's handed to the client at the end of the project. Contractors feed in the information about their own work.

Higher-risk buildings and the golden thread

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, a higher-risk building is at least 18 metres high or at least seven storeys, with at least two residential units. Building control for these buildings is carried out by the Building Safety Regulator, and the building can't be occupied until the Regulator has issued a completion certificate.

Throughout design and construction, the client and the principal contractor have to keep a golden thread of information: an accurate, up-to-date digital record of how the building was designed and built, including the certificates and inspection records for the work. At completion it's handed over to the people who'll be responsible for the building's safety. For a contractor, that means every certificate needs to be findable, attributable and in its latest version, rather than sitting in someone's inbox.

The handover checklist

A typical new-build house in England. Your contract and building control body may ask for more.

  • Electrical Installation Certificate (BS 7671), with schedule of test results
  • Part P Building Regulations compliance certificate (via the electrician's competent person scheme), or building control sign-off
  • Smoke and heat alarm commissioning certificate (BS 5839-6)
  • Gas Safe Building Regulations compliance certificate for the boiler or appliance
  • Benchmark commissioning checklist
  • G3 unvented hot water commissioning record and notification
  • Part F ventilation commissioning and air flow test results
  • Air tightness test certificate
  • BREL report (as designed and as built) and photographic evidence
  • On-construction EPC
  • Building control completion or final certificate
  • Manufacturers' instructions and warranties for installed equipment
  • CDM Health and Safety File information for your part of the work, where CDM applies

Keeping it all together

On a development of 80 plots, that list becomes over a thousand documents from half a dozen trades. A few habits make handover far less painful:

  • Keep each certificate on the plot it's for, not in a shared folder sorted by trade. Handover happens plot by plot, so file plot by plot.
  • Check qualifications before the work, not after. A certificate signed by someone whose Gas Safe or 2391 has lapsed is a problem you discover at the worst possible time.
  • Take the photos at the right stage. Part L evidence and fire stopping can't be photographed once they're covered up.
  • Lock signed certificates. If a certificate needs to change, issue a new revision and keep the old one, so you can always show what was signed and when.
  • Don't hand over until it's complete. Make the plot's paperwork a check before it moves to aftercare.

How DuoApp helps

That's the job Compliance & Certificates was built for. Certificates sit in a Certificates & H&S tab on each plot, with site-wide documents on the project and shared-area documents on the block. It comes with 25 ready-made UK templates, including the EIC, Gas Building Regulations certificate, Benchmark, G3, Part F, Part P, air tightness, Part L BREL and photographic evidence, EPC and building control completion. Only people with the right in-date qualifications can fill them in or sign them, signed documents lock into a branded PDF with a SHA-256 fingerprint, and DuoApp warns you about outstanding certificates before a plot goes into aftercare. Certificates issued elsewhere, such as the EPC or your scheme's certificate, are uploaded and kept with the plot. When it's time to hand over, download a per-plot handover pack, or a golden thread pack for a higher-risk building.

DuoApp doesn't replace your NICEIC or NAPIT software or your competent person scheme notification. It keeps the record together so you can evidence what was done, by whom and when. Read more in our launch announcement.

Frequently asked questions

What certificates do you need when handing over a new-build house?

Typically an Electrical Installation Certificate, a Part P compliance certificate, a Gas Safe Building Regulations compliance certificate, a Benchmark commissioning checklist, a G3 record for any unvented cylinder, ventilation commissioning results, an air tightness test, the BREL report and photographic evidence, an on-construction EPC, a smoke alarm commissioning certificate, and the building control completion or final certificate.

Does every new home need an air tightness test?

In England, yes. Since the 2021 edition of Part L came into force in June 2022, every new dwelling should be pressure tested. Testing a sample of a development is no longer enough.

Who issues the Building Regulations compliance certificate for electrical work?

If the electrician is registered with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, they notify the work and the scheme issues the certificate. If not, the work has to be notified to building control before it starts, and building control signs it off.

What is a BREL report?

The Building Regulations England Part L report. It compares a new home's energy performance as designed with the home as built, and is given to building control together with photographs of key construction details.

What is the golden thread?

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, the golden thread is the accurate, up-to-date digital record of how a higher-risk building was designed, built and is managed. It must be kept during construction and handed over at completion.

A reminder: this guide is general information, not legal advice. Last checked October 2026. Regulations and approved documents change, so confirm current requirements with GOV.UK, your building control body and your competent person scheme.