council fees for planning and inspections

linda_brew

I have a fee sheet for my local council.

Based on the estimated cost of the works it states:

Plan Charge £113.17
Inspection Charge £339.53
Building Notice £452.70

We are hoping to apply for planning permission for a ground floor extension.

Are all three fees payable or is there an overlap?

One builder said that some architects or approved private companies can undertake the inspections for the council. Is this correct and does anyone have first hand experience of it?

CashisKing

You need to get clear in you mind the difference between planning permission and building regulations.

PP= Gives permission for what you can build
BR= What you are building is of a suitable standard.

If you are building an extension you may need planning permission, you will definately need building regs.

The amounts you have quoted are for building regulations.

Either you get an architect/designer to submit plans (plan charge) then you get a builder to build the thing and pay the inspection charge

OR

You get the builder to start building and pay the Building notice charge.

The two add up to the same amount, but the plans method means any errors/oversights are made on paper not in bricks and mortar.

linda_brew

thanks.

So we are saying there are two ways to skin this particular cat but in total they add up to £452.70?

Seeking PP would be the best I think in our case. I guess the difference is time.

zax47

Check with your Local Authority what you can build without PP under the Permitted Development rules. Odds on you only need Building Regs Approval, not PP. Waste of time and money going in for full PP if you don't actually need it....

markdavey

Note that PP charges are different and are in ADDITION to the charges above for Building regs (you have to pay BOTH the planning dept. AND the Building Regs dept).

The 'Plan Charge' shown in your OP is for the Building Regs team to proof the plans for initial Building Regs approval and are NOT the same as having the plans approved for Planning Permission. As an example, I completed an extension last year and paid the local authority the following:

£150 - Planning Permission
£160 - Building Regs approval of the Plans prior to build (your 'Plan Charge')
£195 - Inspection Charges

CashisKing

markdavey wrote: »

Note that PP charges are different and are in ADDITION to the charges above for Building regs (you have to pay BOTH the planning dept. AND the Building Regs dept).

The 'Plan Charge' shown in your OP is for the Building Regs team to proof the plans for initial Building Regs approval and are NOT the same as having the plans approved for Planning Permission. As an example, I completed an extension last year and paid the local authority the following:

£150 - Planning Permission
£160 - Building Regs approval of the Plans prior to build (your 'Plan Charge')
£195 - Inspection Charges

But he could have
£150 Planning
£355 Building Notice

The total would be the same!

markdavey

CashisKing wrote: »

But he could have
£150 Planning
£195 Building Notice

The total would be the same!

no, in your (my) example (assuming there is an application for planning permission), she would have:

£150 - Planning Permission Application (noting to do with Building Regs)
£355 - Building Notice (Building Regs charges for plans and inspections combined, this is taken from my local authority schedule of charges)

You always pay the total of the Plan approval and Inspections for building regs regardless of how you skin it.

EDIT: Perhaps thats what you meant by "the total will still be the same" however, the figures quoted are misleading.

macman

Before you do anything else, first go with your plans to the duty planner at your LA and determine whether you actually need PP.

iamcornholio

There is always a fee for the building control work - whether paid to the council or to an approved inspector

If using a non-council inspector then you need to be careful that he is not "tied in" to the builder or designer - and so may be lenient in his checks.

Also, many approved inspectors don't like small value [domestic] jobs, and so fees may be high (to discourage this type of work) or checks may be brief (so that they can get on with more profitable work)

For council building control fees there are two routes - a full plans application - ie a charge for plan checking and an charge for site inspection. The plan check fee is paid when the application is submitted, and the site inspection fee is payable once work starts on site

The second route is the Building Notice route - a one-off fee payable when the application is submitted. No plans are needed with this method (you are reliant on your builder knowing what to do) and the fee is normally the same as what would be charged for the full plans route