Electrical Inspection Certificate witheld

I wonder if anyone can give any help. We had a new outbuilding/garage/office built for our small guesthouse. It has power/lights etc. At the same time we had a new consumer unit installed in the main building. All the work has been completed to our satisfaction by a great subcontracted electrician in Nov 2015 when the EIC was registered with ELECSA. We have never seen the electrical certificate which was given to the builder who now refuses to give it to us as we have queried his 'extras' invoices. Having spoken to ELECSA this morning they are unable to give us a copy, and I found out we don't require the Part P as it's classed as commercial. Without the EIC  the building can't get signed off building control. Can the builder legally withold the EIC? Any ideas where I go from here?  

Do you have a contract that sets out the agreements between you and your builder?

I just did a search and it mighgt depend on your contract with the builder. If there is a clause prohibiting withholding of certificates then he would be in breach of it.

The electrician IMO has fulfilled his duties in giving the cert to the person ordering the works, the builder. Although if you are the person named on the cert, he might be obliged to give you a copy. Have you asked him? He might be waiting to be paid by the builder and might email you a copy anyway.

Could also be worth checking with building control as to whether the job has been notified as complying with the regs, and whether that notification is enough.

Edit; oops no notification under part P as you say.

we have an agreed estimate for electrical works etc " including 5 year certification" 

Have you tried to get in touch with the electrician directly? Maybe they'll be more helpful...

You say that you have agreed estimate,,, remember that an estimate is just that, and can easily change. If you wanted a fixed price then you should have asked for a quote, however that would have probably been higher to cover unforeseen circumstances 

But what are the terms of payment?  What is the arrangement for agreeing 'extras'?  If this guy has done extra works and is not going to be paid then I am with him. If he has done works that you feel is in with the original price then I am with you. This is why a proper agreement should be in place with a proper scope of works. When extra works crop up any price different should be discussed and agreed at the soonest opportunity.  

Am I correct that you have tried to project manage this job yourself?  If you have then you may have made a terrible mistake. 

No I have not been project managing - the builder supposedly has. Although it feels like I am having to do all the loose end tying. We now know that the builder has a reputation for giving unjustified 'extras' invoices hoping that the little old ladies will just pay. Well this ones going down with a fight.

oh dear. was he the cheapest by any chance? Common trick, quote cheap, find lots of extras....

The certificate should be provided with the payment of the balance for the "original" quote, unless any of the "extras" included electrical changes.

With respect to "extras" - were these agreed in writing?

Thing is with stupid builders, that the good ones rely on word of mouth for business, so by alienating you, you will probably tell 10 of your friends what a muppet he is, rather than telling a couple of your friend how good he was.

from my days in Quality Control, if you do a good job, the average person tells 11other people, if you do a bad job they tell 109 people (or the bad story travels that far). These days we do, of course, have social media, so I don't know what todays figures would be.

as Noz said, try contacting the sparky direct and asking him for a copy?