Full Plans Application

The full plans submission, is where detailed plans and specification notes are deposited for assessment, preferably well in advance of when work is to start on site, and, once we are satisfied with the proposals, we grant conditional or unconditional approval.
 

All plans of the proposed scheme showing full constructional detail and a specification detailing the work to be carried out are required on submission. If not your application maybe returned as invalid until sufficient information has been provided.

Your submitted plans will be thoroughly checked by one of our Building Control Officers to ensure the work shown complies with the Building Regulations. If they do, your application will be issued with an Approval Notice. However, if they do not, you will be asked to amend your plans or submit revised plans in order that an Approval Notice can then be issued. If you choose either not to amend your plans or submit revised plans, unfortunately your application will be issued with a Rejection Notice.
 
A Building Control Officer as the work proceeds will carry out site Inspections, and with the Full Plans approach you have the assurance that, if the work is carried out in accordance with the Approved Plans, the regulations will be satisfied.
 
Time Scale: from deposit of application 5 weeks or request for extension of time to 8 weeks.

Building Notice Application

The Building Notice procedure, which initially does not require any detailed plans, only a location/block plan to a scale of not less than 1:1250.
 
Building Notice applications are only suitable for domestic works, and only get accepted, and not approved. If additional information is felt to be necessary throughout the project, we can request it at any time. i.e. structural calculations. Once you have given your building notice" you can start work and it can be inspected within 48 hours of the application being registered.

Regularisation Application

Scope

This procedure can enable retrospective Building Regulation approval to be gained for any building work undertaken without approval on or after 11th November 1985.

Making an Application

An application is made by the submission of an application form relevant fee and, in most cases, a plan indicating both the unauthorised work and the additional building work required to secure compliance with relevant Building Regulations.
 
Plans/details will generally be required in the following circumstances, although this list should not be considered exhaustive:
  • Loft conversions
  • Extensions
  • Garages
  • Underpinning
  • Structural work
  • Mezzanine Floors
  • When consultation with the Fire Brigade is considered prudent
  • When work has been built directly over or within 3m of a sewer in the ownership of Severn Trent Water Ltd

Inspections

Inspections are carried out by the Council to determine compliance with the Building Regulations that were in operation at the time of construction.
 
Inspections will only be undertaken once an application has been deposited.

Opening up of work

In most cases, you may be required to open up certain areas of construction in order to enable inspection of the unauthorised work.

Notification

Any contraventions and/or work required to gain compliance with relevant regulations will be identified and advised to you in writing.
 
It is your responsibility to carry out any additional work identified, if a Regularisation Certificate is required.

Regularisation Certificate

A Regularisation Certificate can only be issued when the Council is reasonably satisfied that all the unauthorised work complies with the relevant requirements.
 
 
If a Regularisation Certificate cannot be issued, eg if you choose not to carry out work identified as essential to satisfy relevant requirements, any fees paid cannot be refunded.

Please Note

Once a Regularisation Application has been submitted, any fees paid cannot be refunded if you then choose not to follow the procedure.

Legal Action

Work carried out without Building Regulation approval can be subject to legal action by the Council.
 
This Regularisation Procedure does not preclude the instigation of legal action by the Council under Section 36 of The Building Act 1984, which may, in turn, lead to a requirement to rectify serious contraventions.
 
Generally, the Council will only pursue legal action when identified contraventions represent serious safety deficiencies and you choose not to carry out remedial work to rectify them.