Someone's asked you for a PCC, and you're sitting there wondering what on earth that actually means. Maybe it came up in a solicitor's email, maybe a mortgage broker mentioned it, or maybe you're a developer and a buyer's lender has started asking questions. Either way, it's one of those terms that sounds more complicated than it is.

So let's just explain it properly.

What a PCC actually is

A Professional Consultants Certificate, or PCC, is a document issued by a qualified professional (usually a RICS-regulated surveyor) that confirms a newly built or converted property has been built to a proper standard. That's really all it is. A qualified person has looked at the build, checked it meets the required standard, and signed off on it.

Mortgage lenders ask for one because they need to know the property they're lending against is sound. If there's no structural warranty in place (more on that shortly), a PCC is what gives them that reassurance.

Why does it go by so many names?

This is where people get confused. You might have seen it called an Architects Certificate, a CML Certificate, or a Professional Consultants Certificate. They all mean the same thing. Here's the short history:

Who actually needs one?

If you've built a property, converted one, or done significant renovation work in the last six years and there's no structural warranty in place, you'll almost certainly need a PCC at some point. It tends to come up when:

• You're a developer selling newly built or converted units to buyers whose mortgage lenders need certification
• You've done a self-build and want to sell or remortgage it
• You're selling a conversion (barn, office, flat) and the buyer's solicitor has flagged there's no warranty
• You want to remortgage or release equity from a recently built property

What a PCC doesn't do

Worth being upfront about this. A PCC is not an insurance policy. It doesn't cover you if something goes wrong structurally down the line in the way that an NHBC warranty does. What it does is provide professional certification that the build is of a proper standard, backed by the surveyor's professional indemnity insurance. For the vast majority of mortgage lenders, that's exactly what they need.

How long does it last?

Six years from the date of final inspection. And it transfers with the property, so if you sell within that window the new owner is covered by the same certificate.

How Sign-Off Direct can help

We're a RICS-regulated building consultancy that specialises in Professional Consultants Certificates. We issue them from £950 for a single unit, and our average turnaround is 7 days from site visit to certificate. Whether your build is still in progress or has been finished for a while, we cover the whole of the UK and we're used to moving quickly when deadlines are tight.