What type of application!

hwalkerh

Hi

I need to put in a building regs application to bring a covered way up to standard as room. Most of the basics are there so it will be mainly a case of sorting the flooring, walling and ceiling installation, no major building work is required.

What is the difference between a full application and a building notice?? and which will i need (i think the building notice is cheaper so if i could do that)

Any help would be great
Thanks

ormus

by the sounds of it you dont need to inform anyone.
by full application i assume you mean PP?

a building control notice is a very different animal. (mainly concerned with safety).

waynehayes

ormus wrote: »

by the sounds of it you dont need to inform anyone.
by full application i assume you mean PP?

a building control notice is a very different animal. (mainly concerned with safety).

..and also energy conservation. I think a full application is where you go down the Planning Permission route.

dander

Two kinds of building regs application are "with plans" and building notice.

"With plans" is when you have detailed drawings of what is being done, with structural calculations, detailed specs of materials etc, laying down exactly what is going to be done. The building regs are then approved or rejected on the basis of the drawings and the inspector just comes out to check what is done matches the drawings.

Building notice is when you just fill in a very basic form to notify that you are starting work. The building inspector then comes round and various stages and looks at what is being done and says what ought to be done to make everything as it should be.

The disadvantage of full plans is that you have to have a professional draw up your plans, do the calculations, advise on what is required - which of course costs money. You also have to go through an approval process with the council which can take a long time. The advantage is that when work starts you have a blueprint of exactly what needs to be done and you have the confidence of knowing everything is in its place and the building inspectors can't through any curveballs at you.

Disadvantages of building notice is that you have to stop at regular points and wait for the building inspectors approval before going on to the next stage. Building inspector could come out and look at your property and discover something that means you have to change your plans, say your foundations need to be deeper or something like that, so you have less warning of where issues will arise and you are more likely to have unforseens increase your costs. The advantages are that you don't need detailed drawings, you can just produce the paperwork you need yourself, so you save on costs. You only have to give the council a couple of day's warning before starting work.

I don't think there's a lot of difference in cost for the actual application to the council. For a little job like yours I think full plans would just be overkill. Building notice makes the most sense. When you get builders in to quote tell them you want to get building regs sign off via a building notice, just pick someone who is used to the process of booking visits in and know how to get the inspections done at the right time with minimum delay to the work schedule.

dander

Just adding that the price of building regs applications are usually done on the basis of cost of the job, so get your quotes in before you apply. Your council will probably have a list of charging bands. I don't think it is likely to cost you more than a couple of hundred. I paid about £350 for building regs on a £8k job.

lfc321

Just go in to see building control and ask them.Assuming you haven't had plans drawn up then a building notice will be the way to go. If you have a chat with them at the start they will tell you what is required (in tems of thickness of insulation etc etc) and then you just ring them up and ask them to come round to check when you've done those things. Not a big problem.