Building Regulations & Compliance
Preparing Building Control Applications, Construction Drawings and Tender Packs
Fytche-Taylor have considerable knowledge of construction and experience that spans a wide range of sectors, including designing and building our own character properties through to the delivery of major capital works schemes for commercial businesses, healthcare establishments and schools.
Whether you are ready to build a home extension, convert a building or about to open a major construction site, our expert team can assist in preparing your Building Control applications, with support for all forms of development.
In addition, we can assist with tender packs (designed to help you obtain accurate quotes from builders), plus we can coordinate any additional site surveys, drainage plans or structural calculations required using our network of local specialists.
What works require Building Regulations Compliance?
Building Regulations exist principally to ensure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of people in and around buildings, and to ensure that the building work standards meet or exceed the relevant water and energy efficiency requirements for buildings.
The majority of building projects do require Building Regulations approval. Meeting the requirements of the Building Regulations is the responsibility of the person carrying out the building work and, if they are not the same person, the owner of the building too. You can also find out more about Building Regs by reading the latest Government advice here (opens in a new tab)
As building regulations apply to most building work, it is important to check whether approval is needed before starting any work. If you have used us for planning or architectural work in the earlier stages of your project, we will have let you know if this applies to you and provided a likely cost up front for preparing your Building Control application.
If you haven't used us for the planning or design, that's fine too. We can offer the following Building Design Services:
- Building & site surveys
- Cost effective design solutions
- Planning applications and approvals
- Building regulations, drawings applications and approvals
- Coordinate 3d visualisations (provided by a specialist third-party partner)
- Construction cost estimates and advice
- Builder recommendations
- Tender enquiries
- Energy performance certificates
- Code for sustainable homes assessments
- Flood risk assessments
We currently have a recognised Partnering Agreement with the Local Authority for all of our Building Regulations applications. This means that the ‘plan check’ part of the Building Regulations application can be assessed by West Lindsey Building Control. This doesn’t affect the site inspections and these can be carried out by the respective local authority.
There are two main routes of complying with Building Regulations – The Building Notice & Full Plans Approval. There are advantages to both routes, however we normally recommend the full plans approval route so that all details and specifications are agreed and confirmed prior to starting on site. This way, you can confirm prices of the build against the specification; ensure that all quotations are priced on the same documentation and specification, thus resulting in any “surprises” being kept to a minimum.
FAQ - Who do Fytche-Taylor use for providing Building Control?
This varies - we will use whoever offers the most efficient service on a job by job basis. Building Control services were fully privatised in 1997, after first being partially privatised back in 1985. This means that for over 25 years there has been no requirement to use the council for residential building control work, although that option does still exist.
Nowadays, a significant proportion of building control services are provided by government approved, regulated private sector companies. Some council's use these private firms too, typically because of a shortage of council officers. We will determine who to use based on area, timescales, and who is able to provide the best quality, prompt service at the time. Sometimes this may be the local authority, otherwise it may be a government approved, regulated provider. Either way, you will be advised who we will use if you appoint us to handle building control on your behalf.
Rest assured, whoever delivers the service still registers notices with the council as required, including on completion. With more than 60 years in construction, planning and architecture between us, you are in safe hands.
