Building Control

Following a positive decision regarding planning from the local authority, the next stage of the design process is a Building Regulation Application to the local authorities ‘Building Control’. Depending on the complexity and size of your project this can include or exclude a number of drawings, specifications etc., but generally a typical project will involve the following:-

Permission

On receiving permission from the local authority a Building Regulation Application can begin.

Further Site Survey

It may be necessary to re-visit the site to accurately measure a specific part of the existing building or landscape that has now become critical due to the design of the extension or new build.

Construction Drawings

Once confirmed accurate dimensions have been taken, construction drawings in the form of Bay Sections, Details, and Layout Plans will need to be done to carefully detail the design for construction.

Specification

It is usual for a written specification to be issued with the above construction drawings that give exact details on insulation types and thicknesses, glass and general material specifications, critical centres of structural members and their fixings.

Structural Calculations

With most projects it will be necessary to prove to the local authority the suitability and size of critical structural members ie; size and span of any steels, rafters, floor joists etc. We liaise with our structural engineers throughout the design process but it is at this stage that they provide data sheets to confirm our design.

Submission

Once we have completed all of the above we will issue this to the local authority on your behalf, and monitor it through to approval from the council making amendments if necessary. This method is known as a full plan application where drawings, specifications and calculations are issued to the local authority and then approved over a 2 month time frame, before construction begins on site.

It is entirely possible to submit the above under a building notice where the above is again submitted to the local authority, but works on site can start 48hrs after the local authority have received this. A building notice is only ever used for known established building projects using traditional construction methods, we can advise at the time what your specific requirement will be.

Fees

The council’s fees like our own will be the same whether your project is submitted under a Full Plans Application or a Building Notice, except the entire fee would be required up front with a notice, as opposed to Full Plans Application where it is staged. Fees are calculated by the council in a number of ways, and by a number of factors – again we will guide you through this at the time.

Monitoring

Generally, we do not monitor projects on site on a day to day basis, unless requested, we will however, be on hand to answer queries or problems that might arise on site during the build.