Notices and Paperwork

Explanation of Building Regulation Notices

Approval, conditional approval, rejection and acceptance notices

A building regulations application can be made to the local authority, in a number of different ways such as a full plans or building notice application and different notices will be issued for each type of application.With a full plans application, a copy of the existing and proposed plans are submitted with a specification and an appropriate fee, which the local authority check for compliance with the building regulations.The local authority has to issue a decision within five weeks of the plan’s submission, or this can be extended by a further three weeks.

The local authority would then issue a notice of approval if the submission fully complied with building regulations or a notice of conditional approval, if certain information or details were outstanding or could only be supplied at a later date.

If the plans don’t comply with the requirements of the building regulations or could not be conditionally approved and amendments are not submitted in the specified five or eight week total time frame the local authority would have to issue a notice of rejection in relation to the submitted plans.

A building notice application is a very simple process that only requires the applicant to submit a completed form and the full appropriate fee forty eight hours before works commence and the local authority have to issue a acceptance notice providing it is valid and cannot approve, conditionally approve or reject it like a full plans application.

The submitted details even if drawings are provided are not approved or have the same status as an approval as works are inspected at various stages on site. But the local authority does have powers to ask for additional information, calculations, or details if evidence is needed to ensure compliance with the building regulations is met.

However, a building notice cannot be submitted for works involving a means of escape in a non domestic building or flats containing common areas.

Please ensure that you read all of your approvals conditions and notices that you receive very carefully, as it is your legal responsibility to comply with them. Certain information, in the case of a conditional approval may need to be forwarded to satisfy a conditional before starting works, or even design changes may need to be made, so that the requirements of the building regulations can be met for your project. Failure to follow your approvals, consents, or conditions, may result in the refusal of issuing the completion certificate, or the issuing of legal notices and instigation of action. This could blight the development or its use, with legal action being taken against the owner or person responsible for carrying out the work, in addition to requiring costly alterations or removal of parts of the building.

Completion certificates

It is very important that a completion inspection is carried out when the works are completed, as it is a statutory inspection, the intention of which aims to ensure that the works are carried out correctly and the property is safe to occupy.

When the works have been completed satisfactorily, you will be issued with a completion certificate by building control confirming that, as far as can be ascertained after taking all reasonable steps in that behalf, the building works comply with the legal requirements of the building regulations. It is very important to retain this document in a safe place, as you will need it in the future.

If it is not done or the completion certificate is not issued due to problems or outstanding work it could cause a number of difficulties for you such as, having to rectify outstanding or incorrect work at a later date, the loss of value of your property, property conveyance, re-mortgage problems, sale problems, insurances not being valid, or a legal claim being made against you or your estate.