Types of Application
If your proposed building work requires Building Regulation Approval you have the choice of making one of two types of applications - Full Plans or Building Notice.
Full Plans Application
This involves the submission of detailed plans and other relevant information, which is then checked to ensure compliance with the Building Regulations. If satisfactory an Approval Notice is issued. Where the proposals are found to be unsatisfactory a Building Control Surveyor will endeavour to contact you in order that the plans can be amended. In certain circumstances there may be no alternative but to reject the plans (i.e. where the plans indicate a contravention of the regulations, or contain insufficient information for assessment purposes).
Advantages of Full Plans Applications
a) You know that as long as the work is carried out in line with the approved plans, it will meet the regulations.
b) You can give approval notice to financial institutions, solicitors, and surveyors and so on when you are applying for loans or moving home.
c) As long as the work is carried out in line with the approved plans, and all the relevant inspections find the work is of a satisfactory standard, you can get a completion certificate.
Building Notice
As an alternative to the Full Plans procedure, Building Notice allows for building work to be executed without the submission of detailed plans. It is generally used when the type of building work is straight forward, and the persons responsible for the execution are conversant with the requirements of the regulations.
The work will be inspected as it proceeds, but you will not receive any official decision notice confirming that the proposals have been passed. As part of the procedure a Building Control Surveyor may request further information to assist with the on-site assessment. This may include such items as structural design calculations, construction details, specification of materials etc.
Advantages of the Building Notice
a) you can save time and money by not having to prepare and submit detailed plans.
Disadvantage of the Building Notice
a) you don’t have an approved plan to work to. Although our surveyor will try to prepare for possible problems, if the work does not meet the regulations, there may be a delay while the work is corrected.
b) Building estimates may not be accurate because full information about the design is not available.
