Building regulation applications
We would like to bring to your attention that new legislation has come into force from 1 October 2023 which puts additional requirements on the client under the Building Regulations 2010 (Amended), in Part 2A,11C(1) where the client is required to appoint a suitably competent Principal Designer and Principal Contractor (please note this can be the same person/company). Please provide the name, contact address and contact number for these persons as soon as possible. If you do not notify us of these appointments, we will assume that you will be acting in both capacities and will be taking on these legal duties.
The new regulations are a result of the Building Safety Act 2022 which is intended to drive up competence in the construction industry and improve quality and standards in our built environment.
Search building control applications
Most building work, whether new, alterations, extensions or change of use, requires building regulations approval. You can make one of two types of application - full plans or building notice. For further information see the Planning Portal.
Full plans application
Extending, altering or building a non-domestic building usually needs a full plans application. You need to send us detailed plans, specifications and structural calculations. We’ll issue an approval notice if the plans meet regulations, or contact you if plans need amendments or must be rejected.
If the work is carried out in line with the approved plans, it will meet the regulations, and you can give the approval notice to mortgage lenders solicitors, and surveyors.
Apply for building control aprroval with full plans
Building notice
Building notice approval allows building work to be carried out without detailed plans. It is used when the work is straight forward, and the builder knows the regulations well.
A building notice is generally suitable for small alterations and projects – for example an additional window or removing an internal wall. It’s a faster process meaning you can start 48 hours after deposit (or earlier) it can’t be used if you are going to be building over or close to a public sewer or altering a commercial building. N.B. you need to be aware that a building notice puts more responsibility for knowing and complying with the building regulations on the person carrying out the work and the property owner.
We inspect the work as it proceeds, and may request further information such as structural design calculations, construction details and specifications of materials. You can save time and money by not having to prepare and submit detailed plans, but if the completed work does not meet regulations, there may be a delay and extra costs to correct it.
Regularisation
You can apply for a regularisation certificate for unauthorised building work carried out on or after 11 November 1985 and which should have been submitted to the Building Regulations procedures.
Please call us on 0300 300 8635 or email building.control@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
Apply for regularisation certificate
Charges and fees
The charges for building regulation applications are a standard charge or, for larger schemes, individually determined on a scheme-by-scheme basis.
Standard charges
Read our guidance on standard charges (PDF), for information about:
- domestic extensions and alterations
- new dwellings
- most other work
We give reductions on standard charges for repetitive or repeated work from an owner of plans which have already been approved by us. Please email building.control@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk for an individual assessment of the charge for this type of work.
Individually determined charges
If the charge for your building work is not listed in the guidance on standard charges (PDF), it will be calculated individually. In this instance, please email building.control@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk, (with 'Request for building regulation charge' in the subject line) with a description of the intended work. We will contact you within 24 hours. You can also telephone us on 0300 300 8635.
Involve us early
We welcome early involvement, particularly on larger projects, prior to you submitting a building regulations application. Involving us early will give you the maximum amount of support to achieve a rapid approval of your scheme.
Payment of charges
- plan charge - This charge is payable when you submit your application
- inspection charge - This charge is payable after the first inspection on site by our surveyors. You will be invoiced for the charge and it will cover all subsequent inspections
- building notice charge - This charge is payable when you submit your application
If you'd like to see our full charges scheme, please email building.control@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and we will contact you to arrange an appointment.
Our Building Control Privacy Statement
We collect and hold limited personal information to help us provide our Building Control Service to you. We gather agent and applicant names, addresses and contact details from application form details.
Applications are made by a building owner or an agent acting on an owner’s behalf online, by post, by email or by telephone and this is held securely in our back office system and only used it to help us administer and enforce Building Regulation compliance for each case that we receive.
We treat this data as personal information which is normally retained for 15 years and then removed unless we have any ongoing or unresolved enforcement issues. Building Regulation personal application details are not put up on our website nor made available online for public access.