The UK System of Building Control
by bregs blog admin team
As we discuss the adequacy of the new building control amendment, it might be useful to look at systems in other countries. For the purposes of this post we have focused on the Building Control system in England and Wales (The differences in Northern Ireland and Scotland are addressed at the end of the document).
The Building Regulations in England and Wales are set by the Communities and Local Government (CLG).
You have two choices over who supplies your Building Control service:
1. The Local Authority Building Control section or
2. Independent ‘Approved Inspectors’
The Approved inspectors are relatively recent (since the Building Act 1984) and are licensed by the Construction Industry Council For further details on the Approved Inspectors CLICK HERE
Once you have chosen your preferred Building Control service you then have two routes to ensure you are building in accordance with the Building Regulations. When using the Local Authority Building Control method the options are:
1. Full Plans Approval
a. You submit all the construction drawings, details and specifications for inspection/checking.
b. You are then informed of any defects/amendments that need to be addressed in order to receive approval. You can receive a conditional approval where items can be addressed prior to work commencing.
For more information on the Full Plans method CLICK HERE
2. Building Notice
a. You give minimum 48 hours notice to the Local Authority of your intention to build. There is an inherent risk in proceeding in this way as you do not have the benefit of ‘approved’ plans.
For more information on Building Notice method CLICK HERE
Inspections
It is a requirement of the Building Regulations that the builder notifies the Local Authority Building Control section at various stages of the work; this triggers an inspection to ensure the work is carried out at that stage correctly. Failure to give such notice may mean that you are required to break open and expose the work at a later date.
There are minimum days on the required notice that you are required to give (normally on cards provided for this process); for details on the minimum notices and for further information on these site inspections CLICK HERE
The method if you use an Approved Inspector is slightly different in that you and the Approved Inspector jointly notify the Local Authority Building Control Section of your intention to build in an ‘Initial Notice’. Once this notice is accepted, the plans and site inspections are then checked, inspected and approved by the Approved inspector.
Completion Certificate
On completion the Local Authority Building Control Section or the Approved Inspector will issue a final completion certificate stating that the works have been constructed in accordance with the Building Regulations.
Northern Ireland and Scotland
The Approved Inspector route exists only in England and Wales and not in Northern Ireland or Scotland where you only have the Local Authority Building Control Route, although independent inspectors are envisaged in Scotland.
In Scotland the Building Regulations approval to build is called a Building Warrant. The design is approved by the local authority and the architect ‘self-certifies’ that the approved design has been built, at the end of the construction process. All newly built and newly converted dwellings are backed by designated warranty schemes (insurance) as in England and Wales.
In Northern Ireland, there is a full system of local authority inspections for all stages of all projects, even small domestic works. More information is available at http://www.buildingcontrol-ni.com/
You can read more about the systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland in the Irish Consumer Agency/ Grant Thornton Report ‘Building Regulations and their Enforcement’ available at http://corporate.nca.ie/eng/Research_Zone/Reports/Home_Construction/NCA-Home-construction-Volume-5.pdf
A special thanks to Geoff Wilkinson at TheBuildingInspector.org (Approved England and Wales Approved Building Inspectors)
BRegs Blog 
[…] Now as much as I hate to say this (as I would prefer every build to be main contractor built); I live in the real world and I think that depriving self-builders of the opportunity to build themselves will truly harm the construction industry. I also think that the national register of builders isn’t the way forward. Self-Building in the UK (although a much smaller industry) works without such a register; the difference is that ALL construction projects have their plans and construction inspected and certified INDEPENDENTLY throughout the entire construction process. This system of independent drawing and site inspection is something that Ireland will still not implement under SI80 under the Building Regulations Amendments (2013). For a full description of the UK Building Control process CLICK HERE […]