Types of Application

There are two ways to submit a building regulations application. A Full Plans or a Building Notice application. Where work has already been carried out without us being notified please use a Regularisation application form.

Full Plans

This type of application is usually submitted by an agent or architect. We would normally recommend this route as it enables contractors to quote for your project more accurately and it means your builder will be working on site with a set of approved plans rather than being solely reliant on their knowledge of the building regulations.

The plans are deposited and checked for compliance with the building regulations and at the end an approval is issued. This requires the submission of constructional drawings, details and a specification of the intended scheme before work starts on site. All buildings which fall within the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 ie shops, offices etc must be submitted by this method.

One of our building control surveyors will carry out a detailed appraisal of the proposals and request any additional information if it is needed. Once compliance has been achieved an approval notice will be issued which remains valid for three years from the date the application and plan fee were deposited with us. Minor variations in construction can be agreed as work progresses, however major changes may require amended plans and further details to be submitted.

Building Notice

A building notice can only be used for domestic work and is only advisable for smaller works such as underpinning, internal alterations or reroofing and does not require the submission of plans with the notice. If you do choose this method for larger works such as a conversion or extension a location plan will be required at a scale of no less than 1:1250.

The exception to this would be if your project is within 3m of a public sewer. Unless you already have a “Build Over Agreement” you will need to submit a Full Plans Application.

We may require further details to be submitted before or during the construction process, i.e. calculations to ensure compliance, but we will make you aware of this as early as possible.

Once a notice has been received and providing all details are correct, a building notice acknowledgement will be issued. Works can then start on site within 48 hours. You should be confident that your builder is competent to work without a set of plans annotated to show compliance with the building regulations and has a good understanding of current legislation.

Regularisation

If you have already carried out building works without obtaining building regulations approval, you can submit a regularisation application to achieve confirmation of compliance retrospectively (provided the work was carried out after November 1985 and is found to be compliant). You will need to download and complete a regularisation application form, and include plans showing the scheme as built.

Once you have submitted an application you will be asked to open up and uncover works as directed by our building control surveyor so that structural elements can be inspected and approved. You may also be asked to submit additional information such as structural calculations.

Provided the work is found to be satisfactory, a regularisation certificate will be issued. This will act in the same way as a completion certificate (the document which we issue following a satisfactory final inspection and receipt of any relevant certificates related to the application.)