It is important if you intend to carry out building work that you seek advice from your local authority Building Control staff at an early stage before you commence the work to establish if your proposals are subject to the requirements of Building Regulations and whether or not you will need to make an application.
A Building Regulations application will normally be required if you intend to carry out any of the following work.
The following is not a complete list of all the work subject to Building Regulations and if in any doubt please ask.
To erect or extend a building
To alter a building for example:
- form room(s) in the roof space;
- remove an internal load bearing wall;
- to form a new window or door opening;
- to remove a chimney breast; or
- to underpin the foundations of a building.
To alter the fire safety arrangements of the building in respect of :
- access and facilities for the Fire Service;
- means of escape from the building;
- resistance to internal and external spread of fire.
The installation, extension or alteration of services for example:
- installation of appliances such as baths, showers and WC’s and associated drainage;
- installation or replacement of a hot water cylinder or oil tank;
- installation or replacement of a small sewage treatment plant such as a septic tank;
- installation or replacement of certain boilers and combustion appliances and their chimney or flue pipe;
- installation of replacement windows.
Electrical work
- electrical work in a dwelling;
- in the common parts of a building serving one or more dwellings;
- in a building that receives its electricity from a source located within or shared with a dwelling;
- in a garden or in or on land associated with a building where the electricity is from a source located within or shared with a dwelling.
To alter the access and facilities to and within a building for people with disabilities
To insert insulation material in the cavity of an external wall
To change the use of a building to a different purpose to which it is currently being used. This includes changes of use to form:
- a dwelling;
- a flat or flats including maisonette;
- a hotel or boarding house;
- a public building;
- an institutional building;
- any use which is subject to Building Regulations where previously the use of the Building was exempt;
- the alteration of a building to create a lesser or greater number of dwellings; or
Building Regulations deal mainly with health and safety matters in the interest of the people who will use the building.
In simple terms:
Building Regulations are concerned with how a building is constructed with particular reference to:
- access to and use of buildings
- conservation of fuel and power
- drainage
- drainage and waste disposal
- electrical safety
- fire safety
- glazing safety
- heat producing appliances
- hygiene
- protection from falling, collision and impact
- site preparation, resistance to contaminants and resistance to moisture
- sound resistance
- structural stability
- toxic substances
- ventilation
These are legal requirements but provided that the correct technical standards are met the approval should be straightforward. The council's Building Control Officers deal with Building Regulation applications.
