Building Regulations.

05

Building Regulations

With all building work, the owner of the property (or land) in question is ultimately responsible for complying with the relevant planning rules and building regulations (regardless of the need to apply for planning permission and/or building regulations approval or not).

Therefore, failure to comply with the relevant rules will result in the owner being liable for any remedial action (which could go as far as demolition and/or restoration). The general advice is to always discuss your proposals with the relevant Local Planning Authority and Building Control Service before starting work. (Source: DCLG)

Your architect usually deals with planning permission, and at this time the preparation for Building Regulations application normally involves instructing an engineer to carry out their structural design work.
There are three ways of obtaining Building Regulations approval, either through the Local Authority Building Control service (LABC) or an independent Approved Inspector.

Full Plans approval:

Full plans approval (as distinct from Planning Permission) is applied for up to eight weeks in advance of starting construction, and is supported by a complete package of drawings, specifications and structural calculations compiled by the architect. This is the normal route for new buildings, extensions, loft conversions and the like.

Notice of Works:

The Notice of Works (or Building Notice) is intended for smaller alterations, such as insertion of a lintel into an opening or removal of a chimney stack, for example. This may be applied for soon before starting work, but it is best to have had the structural design carried out in good time, to avoid delays.

Regularisation application:

A Regularisation application is needed to ensure that work previously carried out (perhaps prior to purchase of the property) is compliant with the Building Regulations. Structural analysis may be required in order to justify the existing construction, or to specify upgrades as necessary.

In each case, a successful application will be accompanied by regular inspections by the Building Inspector, followed by the issue of a Certificate of Completion. Queries raised by the inspector relating to structural matters will be handled by us (see our Terms of Business for details).