There are two main ways of obtaining Building Regulations approval - a Building Notice or a Full Plans application. The table below explains the main differences between the two and the application process.
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| Building Notice | Full Plans Applications |
|---|---|
| A detailed check of the submitted details is not carried out and no approval notice is issued. | You will need to provide detailed plans and a specification of the project, including a location plan with the site boundaries clearly marked. |
| You will need to provide location and site plans and we may request more details if needed. You must provide them by the date given in any letter requesting further information. | In certain circumstances, such as when using steel beams to support floors or walls, structural calculations will be required. |
| Structural calculations may also be required. | We will check the plans to ensure the proposal meets the Building Regulations and will contact you if we have any queries. You should programme the work to allow enough time to prepare the plans and for us to process them. |
| We will send you a letter to let you know your Building Notice has been registered, together with the reference number. | When we are confident your plans comply with the Building Regulations we will send you an approval notice, which gives you the benefit of working with approved plans. |
| As with Full Plans, work can start once two days' notice has been given. | By law we must decide your application within five weeks (or two months by agreement) of submission. If we can't approve your application in this time, we will need to issue a procedural rejection of the application, pending a subsequent approval. |
| The work will be inspected at various stages but you must remember that your builder will not have the benefit of an approved plan to work to and so there is a greater risk that you may have to alter some of the work. As a result, site inspections may be longer and more detailed. Building work will be required to meet the same standards as the Full Plans method. | Once you have submitted an application, you can start work if you have given two days' notice but, until your plans are approved, there is a risk that you may have to alter some of the work if we subsequently find that it doesn't comply with Building Regulation requirements. |
| Building Notices allow greater flexibility in the certification process and are well-suited to simple jobs such as installing a new bathroom. They should be used with care for more complex projects. | The work will be inspected at various stages and, following a satisfactory completion inspection, we will issue a Completion Certificate. |
| As with a Full Plans application, we will issue a Completion Certificate following satisfactory completion of the work. | The Approval Notice and Completion Certificates are important documents and should be kept with other details of the property. |
| The Building Notice charge, which is non-refundable, should be paid at the time of application. | The Full Plan charge, which is non-refundable, is generally paid at the time of application. It can be split into two parts: the plan fee, which is payable with your application and the inspection fee, which is invoiced on commencement of works. |