In a nutshell, building control is the means by which Local Authorities enforce compliance with current Building Regulations. In practice, there are two main ways to go about obtaining the required advice and certification for your project:
  • Via your Local Council’s Building Control Department.
  • Via direct appointment of an Approved Inspector who is authorised to carry out the inspection and certification on behalf of any local authority.

The role of either the Council’s Building Control Officer or an Approved Inspector is to verify that your project meets all current Building Regulations. They will review and approve all the drawings, inspect the actual work carried out on site and, once the project is completed, issue the final compliance certificate.

Due to an open market and healthy competition between local councils and approved inspectors, the process and associated costs are almost identical. Having said that, our experience is that the private inspectors still feel and behave more as your appointed consultants, while the council’s service still feels more like a statutory inspection — and it is often slower and less responsive.

 While it is always good to be informed and understand the process, you do not need to worry about this part of the project. As your appointed architects, we will take care of it for you. We will obtain comparable quotes on your behalf and appoint the selected provider. You can leave this entire aspect of your project with us.

Building control is required for almost all projects that we have ever worked on, as only minor renovation works might be exempt from this.