Issues with sage 4 and wondering how to proceed with stage 5

Good questions, and they're the right ones to be asking — this exact scenario (parting ways with an architect partway through and wondering who inherits which duties) trips up a lot of self-builders. Let me untangle a couple of things that are getting conflated, because that's likely the source of the confusion you found online. First, a correction that should simplify things "Principal Designer sign-off at building completion" isn't really a CDM concept — you may be blending two separate regimes: - CDM 2015 (Construction Design and Management Regulations) — about managing health and safety risk during design and construction. The Principal Designer (PD) coordinates health and safety in the pre-construction phase and compiles a Health & Safety File at handover. It is not a compliance sign-off on the finished building. - Building Regulations completion / Building Control sign-off — a separate process. Your building control body (local authority or a private Approved Inspector/Registered Building Control Approver) inspects the works and issues a completion certificate confirming the works comply with the Building Regs. This is what most people mean by "sign-off," and it has nothing to do with the CDM Principal Designer role. So even if the PD role changes hands, that doesn't affect who signs off Building Control completion — that's a separate appointment (often already in place) and continues regardless. Does CDM 2015 even require a Principal Designer here? Yes, PD is only required when there's more than one contractor on the project (which is common even on a modest extension — main contractor plus, say, an electrician or structural steel installer counts as more than one). But critically, for a domestic client (you, doing this to your own home, not in the course of business), CDM 2015 has a built-in default: - Client duties automatically transfer to the contractor (if there's only one) or the Principal Contractor (if more than one), unless the domestic client agrees in writing with a designer (e.g. the architect) that they'll carry out those client duties instead. - Similarly, if no one is appointed in writing as Principal Designer, and there's more than one contractor, the Principal Contractor by default also takes on the Principal Designer duties. So practically: if your architect withdraws and isn't replaced, and your builder is the principal/main contractor, the PD duties would by default fall to the builder — you don't automatically need to pay a new architect purely to hold that title. That said, whoever holds the PD role needs the skills, knowledge and experience (SKE) to manage the remaining design risk — there's no formal licence or qualification for PD, but HSE guidance expects genuine competence, not just "an experienced builder" in name only. If there's meaningful design still happening at Stage 5 (tender/construction) — structural detailing, party wall-related works, working around existing fabric — that's the bit worth scrutinising: is your builder actually equipped to manage that risk, or is there still a live design role your architect (or another designer, e.g. the structural engineer) should hold onto? Your actual liability if you drop the architect: As the domestic client, your main exposure isn't really CDM — it's contract administration. RIBA Stage 5 is the construction/contract administration stage. If your architect was acting as Contract Administrator (issuing instructions, certifying payments, agreeing extensions of time, dealing with variations) and they step away mid-contract, someone has to fill that role or the building contract itself can be put at risk (missed certificates, unresolved variations, disputes over payment). Options: - You take it on yourself (workable on a small domestic job, but time-consuming and you're exposed if you get it wrong contractually). - The builder absorbs it informally (common in practice on small jobs, but blurs who's checking whose work, and removes your independent check). - You appoint someone else — could be a different architect, or an independent Contract Administrator/Employer's Agent — just for the remainder of Stage 5, rather than a full re-appointment. On structural engineer / building control / party wall surveyor: These are independent of the architect and CDM — each has their own direct appointment (structural engineer to you or via a sub-contract; party wall surveyor definitely appointed by/for you under the Party Wall Act; building control appointed by whoever is "the person carrying out the work," usually you or the builder on your behalf). None of these automatically transfer to or require the builder — you can keep talking to all three directly regardless of what happens with the architect. The question is really just who's coordinating between them, which loops back to the contract administration point above. A few things worth also considering, since you asked: - What does your appointment letter/contract with the architect actually say about termination and what stage-5 duties they were contracted for? That determines what you're releasing them from and whether fees are owed for partial stage completion. - If you're relying on the builder to pick up PD/CA duties informally, get that agreed and recorded in writing — otherwise no one clearly holds the risk. - Check whether your build is Party Wall Act notifiable (likely, on a ground floor extension with internal wall changes near a boundary) — that process runs independently and needs to keep moving regardless of the architect situation. If it'd help, I can sketch out a short written record you could send to the builder and structural engineer confirming who's picking up which duties once the architect steps away — that alone often resolves most of the practical risk here.

Hi , Building Control hep desk or your Building Control Surveyor are best placed to answer your queries. I find them very helpful. I do not think you need a qualified architect for sign off. Hope this points you in the right direction.

RIBA Stage 5 is working drawing and any good company can do the drawing while the build and provide the finish drawing to your building control