One of the most confusing aspects for our clients is building control. Thankfully we take of everything, from the initial application, booking the inspections, liaising with the officer and ensuring you receive your certification at the end of the project.
However, many people still want to understand what it’s all about so here’s our top 5 building control facts:
- If your work entails any structural change (e.g. removal of load bearing walls), electrical wiring, installation of heating appliances, work which needs to meet fire safety regulations (e.g. escape routes), plumbing or ventilation then building control will be required. This covers almost all garage conversions.
- Building control certificates will be requested if you later sell your home so don’t employ a contractor who says you don’t need to go through building control. Retrospective building control certificates can be issued but this will not be without extensive remedial work to uncover what’s been done and make any appropriate changes.
- The homeowner is ultimately responsible for ensuring building control certification is received. This is normally delegated to your contractor but don’t be afraid to ask for details of the initial notice, inspection reports and always make sure you receive the final certificate at the end.
- Planning permission and building control are not the same thing. They are entirely different. Planning permission is concerned with controlling the way in which areas are developed. Building control ensures the safety, environmental impact and control of how a building or renovation is built.
- Approved building control companies (which are our preferred choice of provider) are a perfectly legal and legitimate route for building control. They are authorised to issue the certificates and undertake all the work on behalf of your local council. We prefer to use them as they are experts in building control, given that’s their sole line of business. It is a highly regulated field and you can be assured anyone licensed to issue certificates is held to extremely high competency standards.