You’ve got Planning Permission? Yay!

Now you’ve got to organise your Building Control Approval…Ugh!

But fear not, this only creates a better property for yourself, adds value, and insures your insulation is correct and that future heating bills don’t skyrocket. See it as a necessity that benefits you the most.

Usually home owners take this step between granting of Planning Permission and beginning the construction. Building Regulations Approval is legally required of the property owner. If you do not control the process, the Local Building Control Authority (LBAC) does it automatically for you and on their timeline. So if you leave it to them, they can cause delays to your construction and also fine you if anything is built against approval. 

Why do they matter?

Getting building regulation approval is a statutory requirement set by the government in order to ensure that buildings are designed and constructed in accordance with the Building Regulations & Associated Legislation. Approval is predominantly necessary to ensure the health and safety of those living in the property, as the regulations oversee not just the structural integrity of the building, but matters such as fire safety, energy efficiency, and sustainability. Therefore, they are not only important for day to day building matters, but have long term environmental benefits.

What’s the difference between Building Regulations and Planning Permission?

They are both very separate processes that require separate approval; planning permission concerns the nature of the development of our towns, cities, and countryside as a whole, while building regulations are centred more on the individual property. They refer to structural health and safety, household fuel and power conservation, and the facilities within a building, such as disabled access. In most cases, both planning and building regulation approval is needed, however in some instances, for example internal alterations, building regulation approval is required where planning is not. 

Projects that require Building Regulations approval:

• Erection of a new building

• Extension or alteration of an existing building

• Loft conversions

• If you’re providing services or fittings in a building, such as drainage, replacement windows, and fuel burning appliances of any type.

• Many types of electrical works on buildings.

Submitting your application

You can either submit your plans through a Local Authority Building Control (LABC), or private building control, where you are assigned a private approved inspector for your project. It’s up to you which you use. From there, three plans are available:

• Full plans - this is the most thorough option, where the decision can take up to five weeks for approval, or 2 months with your consent. The certificate of completion is issued 8 weeks after your building works are completed. A set of drawings by your architect is submitted to the council or a private (approved by the authority) surveyor.

• Building notice - this application is necessary for smaller projects. You do not get formal approval like you do with full plans, which means you can start your building work 2 days after you have submitted. 

• Regularisation - this is a retrospective application, for work that has already been carried out without consent. Only building works that have been carried out after November 1985 are eligible for this plan.
  
  

We suggest the private building control route, where the set of drawings you have asked your architect to prepare is submitted to a private surveyor. These surveyors must be approved by the LABC. They pre-approve the drawings, and come to site at times that are pre-booked by your contractor.

If you await the Building Control Authority inspections, you have no control when they happen, and therefore this waiting can delay your works.

Costings

The cost of your building regulations approval depends on three factors: the type of work involved, the size of the building, and the total floor area (in the case of an extension). Fees are typically £800 for a standard development, and closer to £1200 for multiple elements, such as a loft and ground floor dual extension. 

If you would like further advice, feel free to contact us. We are here to help.

The legislation implementing this rule is Building Control Regulations 2010

We can assist you in creating a design that meets the above criteria.

....and we will get back to you asap with some advice