Problems after purchase

I bought a house recently. The house had alterations, knocking an interior wall down to create a larger kitchen. During the buy we were informed by our solicitor that he had a certificate of compliance for this work. I asked him this several times and he confirmed it. I also had an engineer do a survey of the house and no issues were found.

2 weeks after the sale had been finalised, through some work I'm getting done on the house, the previous work has been shown to have been done by cowboys. i.e. No steel support, no brick support, unsafe materials used etc. The structure isn't safe and in no ways conforms to any building regulation. When I contacted our solicitor for details on the CoC to check the wording etc he has informed me that none existed. The CoC he has is for the initial build of the house and has none relating to the internal alterations.
The engineer has said that this would have never have been noticed unless he did internal examinations which they don't generally do. In fairness he mentioned that I should make sure a CoC existed for it.

I now have to get the work completed safely and within regulations that will cost several thousand. What come back do I have? I was led to believe that all work on the house was done within regulations and that a CoC covered it. I'm so annoyed. I confirmed a CoC existed for the build and I had an engineer survey the house. AFAIK I should have never have bought the house without a CoC.

Truly the saying Money Pit comes to mind
Any suggestions? Do I have any comeback?

Well you would need a serious expert to point you in the right direction. IMO, it looks like, from the story you have stated, that the Solicitor was incorrect and as was the Engineer who gave a report which was factually incorrect.

But do not worry both of these should have professional indemnity Insurance. You may need to find an expert solicitor forthis kind of work.

Most engineers do not indeed look into the structure of the building, normally they have some paragraph down the end stating that the report didn't do this as a get out clause. Check your report. You can ask your solicitor if it is worthwhile going after the engineer for an incorrect report. And you can ask the body responsible for regulating engineers.

In relation to the certificate of complaince. Not sure if this is a legal requirment for a sale. If it is and one must have one and your solicitor didn't get one then he is at fault. Are you sure you're not referring to a certificate of compliance with planning?

Also might be no harm to get a second opinion from someone other than your current builders on the structure.