Building Control Fees for an extension

devcon

Hi everyone
I am in the process of applying for Building Control Approval for a two storey side extension with attic trusses. The ground floor area and first floor area are 36m2 each,. The attic room is 16m2. This leaves the total area approx. 88m2. As this exceeds the set fee for extensions up to 60m2 I have been told that the building control fee will be based on estimated construction cost. The estimated cost that Building Control use is £1079 per m2 which means that the extension estimate is £94,952. This leaves the fees at £225 (plans) +£675(inspection). The fee for an extension up to 60m2 is £72(plans) + £144(inspection). This is over 4 times cheaper.
Has anyone any experience of paying these fees when your extension is over 60m2. The £1079 per m2 figure doesn't take into account that it might only cost an extra 50% to build a two storey extension instead of a single storey extension as you have only one roof and one set of foundations. It seems very high. As I will manage the process myself and hire the individual tradesmen I expect to get the construction cost for a lot less than £94,952. Unfortunately Building Control have said they will still use the £1079 per m2 figure.
Any advice greatly received.


Thanks

KiwiCoop

I only have experience of building control fees for alteration work but it does seem strange that a new build of 250m2 would be £300 all in, yet your extension is £900. Logical argument counts for nothing when it comes to govt depts of course.



You could get a QS to do a costing or a builder's quote to show it can be done cheaper but it's only going to save you a few hundred so probably not worth it?

devcon

Thanks KiwiCoop. I have emailed them directly for an explanation. Its seems crazy that if your extension is 60m2 the fees are £216 all in. If its 61m2 the fees jump to £668. Something not right! If you pro rata the 60m2 fee for my 88m2 extension it would work out at £316.80 which seems a lot fairer. Just wondering if anyone on this forum has had a similar experience.