The Building Act
1984 and the Building Regulations 1991 (as amended) set
out minimum requirements for standards in new building
work and alterations. These relate to items including
structural stability, thermal insulation, fire safety
and drainage. Certain smaller works are exempt from the
need to obtain this approval; further advice on this can
be given if required. The legislation is supported by
a series of “Approved Documents” that sets
out what is considered acceptable to meet the requirements
of the current legislation. These are amended regularly.
It is not necessary
to retrospectively upgrade an existing property to comply
with current regulations where work was carried out in
compliance with “former control”. It should,
however, be noted that the standards set are the current
minimum requirement and upgrading to at least this standard
is recommended. If new works or alterations are proposed
that require consent it is necessary to ensure these are
in line with the legislation.
Most extensions and
alterations are dealt with by the Local Authority, which
has a Building Control Department to ensure compliance
with these regulations. There are however alternative
schemes e.g. new houses are often built by NHBC registered
builders who certify their own work under a different
process.
There are two procedures for indicating to the Local Authority
that the construction complies with the legislation.
Full Plans
Application
Plans are prepared and an application made with details
showing the sizes and nature of materials to be used.
The Building Control Department of the Local Authority
will then consider these and after any necessary amendment/alterations
have been made and they are satisfied that the regulations
have been met they will grant approval, possibly conditional
to certain measures. At the time of granting consent a
stamped approved plan is returned along with a set of
notices to be sent in at various times requesting inspections.
During the course of the works these requests are made
to the council and an officer will arrange to inspect
the work. The last inspection is upon completion when
provided the works comply with the regulations, the council
will issue a completion certificate.
Please Note: - There
is a fee payable to the local authority both for the submission
of the application and then a further fee for the inspections.
The amount of the fee varies dependant on the extent of
works.
Building
Notice
This allows work to commence and be inspected as work
proceeds without the delay of submitting the application.
The council will need to be notified to inspect the work
at the same stage as for a full plans application and
will again issue a completion certificate when they are
satisfied that the works comply with the legislation.
There is no cost
saving regarding the council application fees although
works can commence on site earlier. However a building
owner choosing this option proceeds “at their own
risk” and needs to be aware that there is a possibility
that items under construction will need to be rectified
if they do not comply with the interpretation of the regulations
by the authorities building inspector. This type of application
is more usually used for small works and alterations but
there is no actual limit on the size of project that can
be dealt with in this way
It is possible to
submit a full plans application and then submit a commencement
notice before approval is granted but again the building
owner proceeds at their own risk.
