The DAFO is a certificate from the Town Hall certifying that the property cannot be subject to a penalty or be demolished and gives maximum security to the buyer. It is basically regulating the legal situation of country side properties which have no license of first occupancy and are built or altered after the year of 1975.
If you have made any changes in the property since you bought it (for example constructed a garage or a swimming pool) these have to be registered and regulated.
IT IS THE SELLERS RESPONSIBILITY TO OBTAIN THE DAFO
The simplest way to explain it is that DAFO means: Declaration Assimilated out of Ordination. The idea is to have a record of the actual date of anything having been built on the property, how many years have passed since construction and to certify that the property has been accepted as legal and that there will be no future penalties. Please be aware that it will not be possible to expand or build more once the DAFO has been obtained.
Here are some of the requirements of the DAFO and how to obtain them, all of which we are happy to help you with. Price on this can vary according to the value of the property.
A recognized architect or technician must write a certificate. Anything built since you bought the property must be included on the plan and also the architect must certify that the septic tank complies with regulations. We can recommend local architects and technicians familiar with the procedure who will do all the necessary measurements. It will be the architect who will, after doing the necessary measurements and paperwork, submit the project to the Town Hall and after this their architect will visit the property to ensure it complies.
The property must have a new style septic tank, not a soak away.
The time for doing this can be anything from 6 to 18 months.
IF THE DAFO IS NOT DONE PRIOR TO SALE WE WILL ARRANGE FOR A PRE DAFO AND THE FINAL COSTS WILL BE RETAINED FROM THE PURCHASE PRICE.
In some cases, it will be impossible to obtain a DAFO on a property for certain reasons which are beyond the control of the sellers simply due to the change of laws in recent years. In this case it is still possible to sell the property but as the purchasers are taking a risk and therefore, they are likely to make a much lower offer.
To obtain a mortgage for a rural property most banks will insist on the property having the DAFO certificate.