What Type of Application?
There are two different ways you may make your application.
1. Deposit Full Plans.
2. Give a Building Notice.
The choice is yours. The difference between a Building Notice and Full Plans Application is explained below.
Full Plans
With a Full Plans application, you complete three copies of a similar form and send it to the Council with three copies of your detailed plans. They will consider your proposals and may ask for amendments with a view to giving an approval. This will give you the protection of being able to prove your plans were passed.
Use this link to download a Full Plans application form (80KB - PDF Help)
Building Notice
With a Building Notice, you complete two application forms and send them with a site plan to the Council. You cannot use a Building Notice where the building has a designated use - for example, Hotels and Boarding Houses, Factory, Office or Shop. An approval notice will not be given for a Building Notice. This method is more suited to smaller projects such as internal alterations, small extensions etc. Although you can build a house using this method it is not recommended due to the complexity of recent revisions to the Building Regulations. Use this link to download a Building Notice application form (98KB - PDF Help)
Application Types FAQ
1. Is there any difference in cost between a Full Plans application and a Building Notice? No. With one or two exceptions a Full Plans application involves a two-stage payment, one when you submit your plans (Plan Charge) and one following first inspection on site (Inspection Charge). If a Building Notice is given the 'building notice charge' is payable when the building notice is deposited with the Council and is the sum of the plan charge and inspection charge.
2. What will the local authority do? If you use the Full Plans procedure, the local authority will check your plans and consult appropriate authorities (such as the Fire Service or water companies). If your plans comply, you will receive a notice that they have been passed. If the local authority is not satisfied, you may be asked to make amendments or provide more details. Alternatively, a conditional approval may be issued. If your plans are rejected, the reasons will be stated in the notice.
If you use the Building Notice procedure, as with Full Plans applications, the work will normally be inspected as it proceeds; but you will not receive any notice indicating whether your proposal has been passed or rejected. If, before commencement or while work is in progress, the local authority requires further information such as structural design calculations of plans, you must supply the details requested.
3. What can I do if my full plans application is rejected? You can resubmit the application with amendments to make them comply with Building Regulations. Alternatively, if you think the decision to reject is not justified, you can refer the matter to the Secretary of State for The Environment, Transport, and the Regions for determination. But note that you must apply for a determination before the work which is in dispute has commenced.
Where there is a mandatory requirement you may ask the local authority to relax it if you think that is justified. If they refuse, you may appeal to the Secretary of State within one month of their refusal. A charge is payable for determinations but not for appeals. The charge is half the Plan Charge, subject to a minimum of £50 and a maximum of £500.
4. What happens if I do work without approval? The local authority has to see that building work complies with the Regulations. If the work does not comply, you may be asked to alter or remove it. If you fail to do this, the local authority may serve a notice requiring you to do so.
If you have already completed work without approval it is possible to gain retrospective approval by making a Regularisation Application. in order to gain approval you will need to provide all the necessary information and where requested destrutive investigations may be needed to enable the surveyor to assess whether the building complies. (Click here to download the Regularisation Application Form) (76KB - PDF Help)
5. What happens if I disagree with the notice? Normally the notice will give you 28 days to rectify the work. You can seek advice from a suitably qualified person and if you tell the local authority you intend to do this, the 28 day period is extended to 70 days. If the report you get from this person causes the local authority to withdraw the notice, the local authority may pay the expenses which you have incurred as a result of having been served with the notice. The local authority cannot serve a notice on you if the work which you have carried out is shown on the plans which the local authority approved or failed to reject within five weeks, or two months if you agree, from deposit of the plans.
6. Are there penalties for contravening Building Regulations? Yes. If you contravene the Regulations by building without notifying the local authority or by carrying out work which does not comply, the local authority can commence proceedings which may lead to a fine. If you are convicted, you are liable to a penalty not exceeding £5,000 plus £50 for each day on which each individual contravention continues after you have been convicted.
Self-Certification Schemes
Certain works carried out by competent persons registered under one of the self certification schemes will not require a formal Building Notice or Full Plans Application. (Click here for the full list of Self-Certification Schemes) (116KB - PDF Help)
