Apply for building regulations approval

How to apply 

You can either

• call us on 01454 868004 with your application details and pay over the phone
• download and print an application form to send to us together with payment  

You can choose to submit either a building notice or a full plans application. 

For commercial premises, hotels and boarding houses, or if a public sewer is within 3 metres of a property you must submit a full plans submission.

Download and print building regulations approval form

Building notices

A building notice allows you to carry out work without the need to prepare full plans. It is important that you and your builder discuss exactly what you are doing with the building control surveyor before you start work and throughout the project.

A building notice can be used for: 

• minor building work or minor alterations to a domestic property
• replacement windows to a domestic property 

A building notice cannot be used where: 

• the building is or contains a workplace such as offices, shops, factories, hotels or hostels 
• the building is within three metres of a public sewer 

Charges for building notices include the total of the ‘plan’ and the ‘inspection’ fee. They are payable when the building notice is submitted.

Full plans application

A full plan application contains plans and other information showing all construction details.

Charges for full plans applications are split into two parts, the ‘plan check’ part of the fee must be submitted with the application. Any subsequent on-site inspections will be invoiced when work starts on site.

Fees

A building control fee is payable and will depend on the number and type of dwellings, as well as the type of work.   

Building control fees for work to domestic dwellings 

If you intend to carry out work to a non-domestic building, contact us on 01454 868004 for details of fees. 

Obtaining approval after work has been completed 

If work has been carried out without the necessary building regulations, the owners may be prosecuted. To help people who find themselves in this position, or who wish to have such work approved, there is a process called regularisation. 

A regularisation application relates to previously unauthorised or retrospective work, that is work carried out without building regulations consent, started on or after 11 November 1985. 

The purpose is to check the unauthorised work against the regulations and provide a certificate of regularisation. Depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary to remove or rectify work to comply with building regulations. 

Download and print regularisation application form

What happens next 

Once we receive your application, we will check: 

• we have all of the information to register it 
• the correct fee has been paid 
• in the case of a building notice that the development is not within 3 metres of a public sewer 

If there is a problem with your application, we will contact you by letter within 3 working days and tell you what you need to do to correct it.

You will be contacted once your application has been validated, and provide an inspection service plan, so that you can arrange a date to begin the work.

You will need to give us 2 days notice that you intend to begin work and let us know at the agreed inspection stages so that we can inspect the site.

If you have submitted a full plans application for approval, we recommend that work does not start until you have received your decision notice. We will let you know within 3 weeks if we require any further information to register your application.

Consultation

Before we can decide on your application, we may consult Wessex Water, Avon Fire and Rescue and other services such as environmental health depending on the type of application. 

Assessment

Your application is assessed against the national building regulations and any other relevant guidance.  

• a full plans application will receive a full check by a building control surveyor within 15 days from when the application was validated  
• a building notice application won’t be assessed until a building control surveyor makes their first site inspection  

For a full plans application, a final decision is usually made within 5 or 8 weeks. The application may be approved, approved with conditions or rejected.  

If plans are rejected, the application will remain open for you to send us amended plans and the decision will then be reviewed. 

Site inspections

Our surveyors will make as many visits throughout the project as necessary, up to a maximum of 10.  

You will receive an inspection timeline when we acknowledge your application.  

You are responsible for ensuring that we are notified at the right stages to inspect the work as it progresses.  

For full plans applications, we recommend that work does not commence until your application is approved.