Building Regulation Guidance notes and application forms

This page provides guidance on what details may need to be given to the Building Control Service when undertaking building work.

What are building regulations?

Building Regulations set minimum performance standards in the design and construction of buildings, to ensure the health and safety of people in and around those buildings.
They also incorporate measures to conserve fuel and power, and to ensure that access and facilities for disabled people are provided.

Why are building regulations applications necessary?

It is the legal responsibility of a person who intends to carry out building work or to make a material change of use to seek Building Regulation certification.

When is an application required?

An application needs to be submitted when you intend to:

Erect a building, e.g. new dwelling
Extend an existing building, e.g. kitchen extension, attached garage etc.
Make alterations to a building, e.g. remove a load bearing wall or a chimney stack, or form an opening in a structural or fire-protecting wall
Underpin all or part of a building
Convert a loft, e.g. make a new room in the roof space
Install services and fittings, e.g. installing showers and toilets, or replacement glazing, Central Heating Systems, boilers, flues, laying new drains or altering electrics. (Some of these may be controlled under competent persons schemes)
Change the use of a building, e.g. convert a house to flats or make more than one dwelling.
Erect a large conservatory, e.g. floor area greater than 30m2 (a conservatory less than 30m2 is exempt provided at least 75% of the roof and 50% of the walls are of translucent material and is thermally separated from the dwelling by walls, windows and doors with U-values and draught stripping provision at least as good as elsewhere in the dwelling.)
Carry out work to thermal elements, eg. re-plastering, replacement roof, external rendering/cladding or new ground floor.
Make alterations or extensions to commercial premises, schools, hospitals etc
Carry out work to improve access to and/or provide facilities for disabled people

NB. Some Building work is exempt from the Building Regulations

When should an application be submitted?

An application needs to be submitted before work commences on site - preferably a minimum of one week in advance. Should building work have already been carried out, visit our what happens if the work has already been carried out? section.

Who submits the application?

You may submit the application yourself or you may engage someone to do it for you. If an agent is employed correspondence will usually be directed to them.

How do I submit an application?

There are two main ways of obtaining Building Regulations certification: a Full Plans application, or a Building Notice. The following notes explain the main differences between the methods and additional methods for certain circumstances.

Full Plans Method

You will need to provide detailed plans and a specification of the project, including a location plan with the site boundaries clearly marked.
In certain circumstances, e.g. when using steel beams to support floors or walls, structural calculations will be required.
The Plans will then be checked to ensure the proposal meets the building regulations and we will contact you if we have any queries. You should programme the work to allow enough time to prepare the plans and for us to process them
When we are confident that your Plans comply with the building regulations we will send you an approval Notice and you will then have the benefit of working with approved plans.
We are obliged by legislation to decide your application within 5 weeks (or 2 months by agreement) of deposit. If we are unable to approve your application within the time available, a procedural rejection of the application will need to be issued pending a subsequent approval
Once you have deposited an application, you can start work if you have given 2 days notice but until your Plans are approved there is a risk that you may have to alter some of the work if it is seen subsequently not to comply with Building Regulation requirements
The work on site will be inspected at various stages and following a satisfactory completion inspection we will issue a Completion Certificate.
The Approval Notice and Completion Certificates are important documents and should be kept with other details of the property

Download: Full Plans application

Building Notice Method

A detailed check of the submitted details is not carried out and no approval notice issued.
Location and site plans are required and more details may be requested if needed. You must provide them by the date given in any letter requesting further information.
Structural calculations may also be required.
You will be sent a letter informing you that your Building Notice has been registered, together with the reference number.
As with Full Plans, work can start once 2 days notice has been given.
The work will be inspected at various stages but you must remember that your builder will not have the benefit of an approved plan to work to and so there is a greater risk that you may have to alter some of the work. Consequently site inspections may be longer and more detailed. Building Work will be required to meet the same standards as the Full Plans method
Building Notices allow greater flexibility in the certification process and are well suited to simple jobs such as installing a new bathroom. They should be used with care for more complex projects.
As with a Full Plans application, we will issue a Completion Certificate upon satisfactory completion of the work.

Download: Building Notice application

Replacement Glazing Notice Method

Use this method when only replacing glazed doors or windows in a domestic property and the contractor or window installer is not registered with FENSA
This is a special Building Notice application and the process is similar to that outlined above, but it focuses on the appropriate information required for replacement glazing projects

Download: Replacement Glazing form

Are there charges to pay?

Yes. The total charges are the same for each method. With Full Plans, part of the charge is paid when the plans are deposited (Plan Charge) and an invoice will be sent for the remaining charge after the inspections commence (Inspection Charge). With a Building Notice, the whole charge is paid when the Building Notice is submitted. There is currently a fixed Building Notice Charge for replacement glazing in domestic properties. If the building works are solely for the benefit of disabled people then the application may be exempt from the charges.

Get more details about our charges. Please note VAT goes back to 17.5% on 1st January 2010.

For more details on exemptions for disabled persons, contact the Building Control team.

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What happens if the work has already been carried out?

Regularisation Certificates may be used to obtain approval for work that has been carried out since 11th November 1985 and was not subject to a Building Regulations Application at the time. This situation can become apparent when the property is being sold and the omission is discovered during a Solicitor's enquiry. Upon request, we inspect the property and, at our discretion, may accept a Regularisation Certificate Application. If we accept your application, we will report to you any areas of the work that do not meet the Regulations. In order to do this we may have to ask you to open up some parts of the building for inspection. Some areas of the work may have to be altered to meet the Regulations. Once we are satisfied with the work we will then issue you with a certificate. Currently, the charges payable are 120% of the normal charge for the work, however VAT is not payable in this case.

Download: Regularisation Certificate application

The Party Wall Act

If you are intending to carry out work on, or within, close proximity to your neighbour's boundary or party walls, you will most likely have duties and obligations under the Party Wall Act. This is designed to resolve disputes, which may arise between neighbours when building work is carried out. The basic requirement of the Act is that you notify your neighbour of the intended work.

The Party Wall Act is not administered by Building Control, but further information can be obtained by contacting the Building Control team or by visiting the Communities and Local Government website. (This link will open in a new window)

Other resources

For more information visit:

Information on Planning permission may be obtained from the Council's Development Control team or from your own professional adviser.

The content of this page is not definitive and no responsibility for errors or omissions will be borne by Building Control at South Cambridgeshire District Council.