Building Control - Additional Services Offered

This web page gives guidance on Additional Building Control Services Offered, and contains the following information:

Pre-submission Advice
Type Approvals
Partnering
Links to Guarantee Schemes
Link to Building Contract Form

Pre-submission Advice

We are happy to discuss proposals before formal submission.

We are in the same building as Development Control (Planning) and Conservation so we are able to set up a 'Development Team Approach' or 'One-Stop Shop' as appropriate for larger schemes.

Development Team Approach is the concept of bringing together all local authority regulatory agencies which affect the development process to provide a co-ordinated approach to the development from conception to completion. It can involve building control, planning, highways, environmental health and the fire brigade.

Type Approvals

We fully support the Type Approval scheme (LANTAC), where plans of repetitive buildings are submitted just once to one local authority for approval. Once approved, the decision is honoured by nearly all local authorities.

Ask us for more details or a leaflet if this is of interest to you, or visit the website of the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) for further details.

There may be a small initial additional charge for this service, but this would be more than offset by cost savings for you.

Partnering

We fully support the Partner Authority Scheme, where a partnership is agreed between a local authority (the partner authority) and any person or body (the partner company). You may be interested in partnering if you are perhaps an architect, builder or developer who wishes to deal with just one particular local authority for the full plans submission process, no matter in which local authority area the proposed work might be.

Full plans are submitted to the partner authority, which issues decision advice to the authority in whose area the work will be (the inspecting authority). Partnerships are honoured by nearly all local authorities.

Once a partnership is formed, a partner company is not obliged to use the partner authority in all or any particular instance.

Ask us for more details or a leaflet if this is of interest to you, or visit the LABC website Partnering page for further details.

There is no additional charge for this service.

Links to Guarantee Schemes for Commercial Building

There are several options for guarantee schemes for work inspected by local authority building control surveyors.

Visit the > LABC website Commercial Building page. Once there, investigate the topics under the COMMERCIAL BUILDING tab, including Latent Gold Warranty and Latent Defects. The insurer behind the scheme is Allianz Cornhill, the largest warranty insurer in the world.

Ask us for a leaflet on the local authority partnership with Zurich Insurance Company for new homes warranty.

Ask us for a leaflet on the local authority association with MasterBond, a warranty for renovations, extensions and home improvements from The Federation of Master Builders. Alternatively telephone the MasterBond freephone number 0800 965765, or visit the >FMB website MasterBond page. MasterBond is also underwritten by Allianz Cornhill.

Link to Building Contract Form

The Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) has produced a contract form for domestic work, the 'Building contract for a home owner/occupier'.

The contract is intended to help you to get the arrangements sorted out before the work starts, and by setting out what you and your builder are expected to do while the work is in progress.

Ask us for a leaflet, or visit the Construction Industry Publications website. You can buy a copy of the contract through this web site.

This page last updated: 26/11/2004

Environment and Planning