House extension Building Regulations

All house extension will require Building regulations approval. Most of the time the Local Authority Building Inspector is used at the sites local Council under the route of a ‘full plans application’. This is where your house extension builder designer or architect has prepared a detailed construction design in the form of plans and specifications for checking by the Local Building Inspector.

All house extension building work must meet or exceed the minimum requirements of the Building Regulations and the full plans route through the local council is usually the best and preferred way for most home owners seeking a good level of control over their final builder. No one want to make it up as they go along would they?

Regretfully, there is another route to gaining approval for a house extension under building regulations and hat is called the Building Notice method. This is where the site visiting building inspector sees and approves the builders work on site as the house extension is formed. This is not a recommended route or process for most homeowners seeking a well built fully compliant house extension through Building Regulations.

The Building Notice was originally intended only for very minor works such as installing a new window within an existing wall but the Government forgot to limit its use. Never employ any House extension Building Designer that will only give you a Building Notice through the Council as they will be giving you a much reduced level of service and design for which could leave you exposed to huge extra cost claims from your builder as he has no thorough work schedule, detailed drawings and a pre-approved design to work to.

Another way to gain approval for a house extension building regulations is to use an approved inspector. These are Private Building Inspectors outside of Council Control. They provide the same level of checking and service as the Council Building Inspectors but are self funding by the fees they collect. However, they often lack the vital local knowledge of the sites ground conditions or drainage works for example that is usually ‘in house’ within the Council Building Control system.