Guide to Applications: Full Plans and Building Notices – March 2011. Edited Aug 2020, Jan 2022, July 2024.
If you intend to carry out building works that are controlled under the Building Regulations, you must apply for Building Control as a legal requirement.
To check what type of work is controlled you can access our separate guidance at https://www.hertfordshirebc.co.uk/guidance-note/controllable-building-works
Your application may be in the form of Full Plans or a Building Notice. You can make an online submission here:
You may also require Planning Permission so please contact your local planning department if in doubt.
There are three types of applications;
- Full Plans
- Building Notice
- Regularisation
Regularisation covers unauthorised work that has already been carried out and there is separate guidance at https://www.hertfordshirebc.co.uk/guidance-note/regularisations/.
Full Plans application
- Form: A completed full plans application form.
- Appropriate fee: You can pay the ‘plan fee’ online while applying, or we will invoice you afterwards. We will also invoice you for an ‘inspection fee’ after work starts.
- Site location plan: Scale 1:1250 showing the position of your property in relation to other buildings, the street and boundaries. You can purchase a plan from the Ordnance Survey website or other mapping providers.
- Elevations, cross sections and floor plan drawings as relevant: scale 1:100 or 1:50.
- Specifications: for the materials, components and construction methods proposed to be used for the project
- Calculations: these are sometimes needed to justify structural members, thermal performance or other requirements of the regulations
Once we have received your application in the correct format, we send an acknowledgement letter to the applicant and your architect or contractor.
We also let you know when you need to notify us at key stages during the work, so we can make inspections before that work is covered over. It’s very important to follow this, or we might have to ask you to uncover the work to check it meets standards.
The structural calculations you provide should be designed or checked by a Chartered Structural Engineer (MIStructE). If this hasn’t been done, and our consultant engineers need to review the calculations, an small additional fee may apply for the structural check. We will check your plans for compliance with the Building Regulations and let you or your agent know if there are any issues preventing us from approving the application. If these issues are not resolved within 5 weeks (you can agree to extend that to 2 months) from deposit, we will either reject the application or approve it with conditions that must be met before work starts.
If we reject your application, you can resubmit it with amended plans for the same scheme at any time without paying an additional fee
Building Notice
As an alternative to Full Plans, you may be able to make a Building Notice application if the work only relates to single private dwellings. If you are building over or within 3 metres of a public sewer or the property is fronting a private road then you should make a Full Plans application.
It isn’t essential that you submit detailed drawings with a Building Notice however, you must include the following:
- Form: Completed Building Notice form
- Building Notice fee: this is the plan fee plus the inspection fee
- Site location plan: as above but only needed if the work includes the erection or extension of a building
Please note that after we accept the notice and work begins, we may request additional information depending on the type of project. That might include design drawings and structural calculations.
Just like with Full Plans, after we receive your correctly completed application, we will send you a letter confirming we have accepted it. We will let you know when we need to be notified of key stages of work, so we can carry out inspections.
We inspect the work under the same regime as a Full Plans application and issue a completion certificate upon satisfactory completion.
Unlike the Full Plans process, detailed drawings are not always required. However, you must submit the following with your application:
Advantages & disadvantages
Full plans:
- We check and approve plans if they are suitable, and then issue an Approval Notice, which can be passed on to any future purchaser of the premises.
- To reduce the risk of non-compliant work and avoid additional costs and inconvenience, your builder should refer to the approved plans.
- Once your work is finished, we will provide a completion certificate after completing all necessary inspections, confirming there are no outstanding issues, and receiving a signed completion notice from the required dutyholders.
- There may be a delay while detailed plans are prepared by your surveyor or architect, for which they will charge a fee. However, plans may already have been prepared for the planning application where necessary which may merely require the addition of technical details and sections.
- Building Control must check your application within the statutory time limits.
Building Notice:
- You don’t need to submit technically detailed plans when making the application. (A site plan needs to be provided) Although we may ask for them later to support the application.
- You pay all the fees (plan and inspection) on deposit of the application. These are non-refundable. (See Terms and Conditions on fee charges)
- Plans are not checked for compliance with Building Regulations and no Approval Notice is issued. Without approved plans, a clear knowledge of the requirements of the Building Regulations is essential. If we find non-compliant issues during an inspection, you must modify or alter the work. This may result in additional costs and delays..
Due to recent changes in building regulations, we may ask you for additional information as part of your application.
Contact us on 01438 879990 or email building.control@hertfordshire.co.uk
We provide further information in our FAQs
