About building control

Building regulations are minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval, or building control, is needed for all buildings to make sure they are safe.

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings. The regulations are developed by the UK government and approved by Parliament.

These regulations are supported by the Approved Documents which set out detailed guidance on design, construction and compliance.

Building control is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project. Even if you have planning consent for your building project, you could still need building control consent before you can start work on site.

There are mainly three different application types:

• Full plans – you provide drawings, details and other supporting information. We check them before approving or rejecting your application.
• Building notice – you provide less information and we do not need to make a formal decision. Please refer to our charges page for further information
• Regularisation – where work has been carried out without getting the appropriate approval, you should apply for a regularisation certificate for retrospective approval. Please refer to our charges page for further information.

Further information

Local Authority Building Control (LABC)

Planning Portal

Health and Safety Executive website