The council makes charges for building regulations. This is in agreement with The Building (local authority charges) Regulations 2010.
Before you build, extend or alter, you or your agent must inform the council. This can be done by either making a full plans submission or making a building notice application.
The fee payable in each case depends on:
- The type of work
- The number of dwellings in a building
- The total floor area.
Schedule tables
Discounts are available for repetitive work on all schedules.
Fees are payable as follows:
- If you submit full plans, you will pay a plan fee at the time of submission. This is to cover their passing or rejection
- With full plans submissions, for most types of work, an inspection fee is payable. This covers all required site visits and is due following the first inspection
- If you give in a building notice, the correct building notice fee is payable at the time of submission. It covers all necessary checks and site visits. The building notice fee is equal to the sum of the relevant plan fee and inspection fee
- If you apply for a regularisation certificate in respect of unauthorised building work starting on or after 11 November 1985, you will pay a regularisation fee. This covers the cost of accessing your application and all inspections. The fee is equal to the building notice fee plus 20 per cent
- Table A: fees for new houses and flats. applicable where the building has no more than three storeys and has a floor area, which does not exceed 300 m². in any other case, table B applies. An additional charge is payable where relevant electrical work is undertaken by a contractor or individual not registered in a relevant competent persons scheme. the additional charge is in accordance with the column in table A if the number of dwellings exceeds 19, please contact building control office to determine the fee.
- Table B: fees for domestic small buildings, extensions, alterations etc. Where work comprises of more than one domestic extension the total internal floor areas of all storeys of all the extension’s on the application must be added together to determine relevant fee. if the extension(s) > 100m², please contact building control to determine the fee. Where the estimated cost of the work exceeds £50,000, again please contact building control to determine the fee. An additional charge is payable where relevant electrical work is undertaken by a contractor or individual not registered in a relevant competent persons scheme. The additional charge is in accordance with the column in table B.
- Table C: fees for non domestic new buildings, extensions, alterations etc. Where work comprises of more than one non domestic extension, the total internal floor areas of all storeys of all the extensions on the application must be added together to determine relevant fee. If the extension(s) > 100m², please contact building control to determine the fee. Where the estimated cost of the works exceeds £50,000, again please contact building control to determine the fee.
Total estimated cost means an estimate accepted by the local authority of a reasonable cost that would be charged by a person in business to carry out the work shown or described in the application, excluding vat, and any professional fees paid to an architect, engineer or surveyor etc, and also excluding land acquisition costs.
Exemptions and reductions in fees
- Where plans have been either accepted or rejected, no further fee is payable on resubmission for largely the same work
- Work providing access and/or facilities for people with disabilities to existing dwellings and buildings that the public have access to are exempt from fees. This means a person to whom section 29(1) of the National Assistance Act 1948 applies
- Placing of insulating material into an existing cavity wall is exempt from fees. This is only if the installation is certified to an approved standard and is carried out by an approved installer
- Installation of an approved non-vented hot water system is exempt from fees where the work is carried out by an approved operative or is part of a larger project
- The amount of charges payable depends on the type of work, the number of dwellings in a building and the total floor area. The fee schedules may be used in conjunction with the current charge regulations to calculate the charge
- Charges in respect of all work are subject to VAT at the standard rate, the only exception is the regularisation charge.
Regularisation
- For applications that are submitted retrospectively a regularisation charge is payable in addition to the normal charge. This is the Building Notice charge plus a 20 per cent surcharge.
Note: The above information is for guidance only and does not substitute for Statutory Instrument 2010 No. 404 which contains the full statement of the law.
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