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Building Regulat ions, Building Control and Certif icates of Safety and Completion - What you need to know, have and keep safe.

If you are making any alterations to your property it is important that you obtain the necessary consents and approvals. Aside from any need for planning permission and or listed building or conservation area consent, any work of a structural nature requires building regulations approval.

Building Control is the enforcement mechanism for building regulations. It is usually carried out by the local authority or by an independent Approved Inspector although there are regulations which can be self-certified. It is often the self-certification which causes the problem.

Your local authority should be the first port of call on all planning and building regulations matters. They will be able to advise on what permissions or regulations are going to apply, whether they can be self-certified, and if not how they will deal with the inspection and signing off. The following is a general guide:

Building Regulations

Any work of a structural nature requires building regulations approval (and in many cases planning permission and or listed building or conservation area consent as well). Such work includes:

• new builds or additions to existing buildings;
• putting in or altering a regulated service or fitting eg. electrical work, boilers, replacement windows;
• internal alterations;
• cavity wall insulation;
• underpinning.

Regular inspections are carried out during the works and provided the finished works comply with the regulations a completion certificate will be issued at the end.

Whether or not the work complies will be determined largely by the skills and knowledge of those carrying out the work but you should note the following specifics:

Electrical Work

Even minor electrical work, eg. in a kitchen or bathroom, must be carried out by an NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) registered electrician. This has been the case since 1 January 2005. Your electrician must issue you with a Part P electrical safety certificate. Without that you will need a building regulations completion certificate. Check your electrician is qualified to provide a Part P certificate before he starts work.

Renovation of Thermal Elements

Not the catchiest or most helpful of descriptions.

Thermal elements include roofs, walls or floors which separate a heated or cooled space from any of the following:

• the outside (including the ground);
• an unheated part of the same building;
• a structure exempt from building regulations, eg. a porch or conservatory;
• part of the same building heated or cooled to a different temperature.

Renovation means adding to or replacing what is already there. When more than a quarter of the element is being renovated, building regulations approval will be required and the whole element may also require upgrading to bring it into line with modern standards. In this area, much of what might have been thought of as simple repair or maintenance could well now require building regulations approval. Examples are:

• replacing a slate or tiled roof covering even replacing like for like;
• re-plastering a wall;
• replacing felt on a flat roof;
• renewing a ceiling below a cold loft space;
• external rendering or re-rendering of a wall;
• renewing cladding to a dormer;
• replacing screed or timber decking.

Gas, Oil or Solid Fuel Burners

CORGI has been replaced with Gas Safe Register (effective 1 April 2009). Anyone working on your gas supply and not registered with Gas Safe Register is breaking the law (even if they claim to be CORGI registered). Look for the yellow Gas Safe Register triangle and not the orange CORGI registration badge before employing any engineer. This is so for installing or fixing gas appliances, boilers, hobs, ovens or fires.

For other fuel burning appliances the relevant people are OFTAL, NAPIT or BESCAL (oil) or HETAS, NAPIT, APHCCL or BESCAL (solid fuel).

Again no certificate means a full building regulations completion certificate.

Replacement Windows

As of 1 April 2002 any new or replacement glazing is subject to building regulations and requires approval. FENSA (Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme) is the scheme that allows an installer to issue a completion certificate.This avoids the need for a building regulations certificate provided he also notifies the building control department at the local authority. The installer must be FENSA registered. If the installer is not FENSA registered then the work must be inspected by building control and a completion certificate obtained.

All in Order?

Make sure you obtain and keep copies of any approved plans and certificates once works have taken place to your property. A solicitor acting for a proposed buyer and for a potential mortgagee will ask to see these to satisfy themselves that works have been undertaken and completed in the correct manner. This is not something that a mortgagee will take a view on. To avoid mounting time and costs in a conveyancing transaction and the delay of having to apply for retrospective approval - with the risk of losing your buyer or having to stump up for the cost of an indemnity insurance policy in order to keep them – please store these certificates along with the other deeds and documents relating to your property. They may take on the same significance after all.

ENFORCEMENT

Failure to comply with building regulations could result in a fine, criminal sanctions and / or an order to remedy the breach. Insurance is available but it is really of limited comfort. You cannot insure against a criminal sanction or against the inconvenience of having builders in for the second time to put things right.

Elizabeth Irvine, Trainee Solicitor
Residential Conveyancing Practice
email [email protected]
tel 020 7591 3346

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