Appointing a Building Control Body is a legal requirement for all Building Works (irrespective of size or scale). RBCAs (such as OWL BCS) submit ‘Initial Notices’ to inform Local Authorities – that they are acting as the Building Control Body.
Building Control Bodies assess (utilising regulatory processes) whether construction work meets the requirements of the relevant legislation, primarily with the Building Regulations. If building work does not meet the required standards, and the Building Control Body becomes aware of these non-compliances – rectification of the offending works is required. If resolution of these issues is not provided, this may result in a RBCA cancelling the initial notice and the project ‘reverting’ to the Local Authority – who may – take enforcement action.
For works on Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs), the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is the mandatory Building Control Body.
You must notify Building Control before starting any work detailed in Regulation 3 of the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended). This includes:
Nb – please refer to the relevant legislation – to understand the full definitions of Building Work.
If you’re unsure whether your project is ‘Building Works’, seek professional advice.
Amendments in 2023 to the Building Regulations, enabled by the Building Safety Act (2022) – have introduced the ‘Duty-holder Regime’. Duty-holders include the Client (and Domestic Client), Principal Designer, and Principal Contractor. It is important to have complete clarity on who is undertaking these roles, and to be aware, that in certain circumstances – designers and contractors ‘assume’ these roles by default.
Any of these duty-holders (or another party) can contact and appoint a Building Control Body (e.g. OWL BCS). It is important to note that the responsibility for compliance (with the Building Regulations) lies with those designing and carrying out the Building Work. This includes providing compliance declarations (confirming that you have adhered to your duty-holder obligations) to your chosen Building Control Body.
No, they are two separate sets of legislation and requirements.
Planning Permission determines whether you are allowed to carry out a building project. It focuses on how land and buildings are used and developed, including the appearance of structures, landscaping, access to highways, and the overall impact on the environment.
Only the Local Authority Planning Department can grant Planning Permission.
Building Regulations, on the other hand, set standards for the safety of those in and around buildings. Which includes the design and construction of buildings to ensure safe, healthy, accessible, and energy efficiency requirements.
Both private and public Building Control Bodies exist.
OWL BCS is a private Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCA).
Building Regulations set the minimum standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of people in and around them. They also cover accessibility for disabled persons, energy efficiency, electric vehicle charging points, and measures to prevent solar overheating.
It’s important to note that Building Regulations do not control the quality of workmanship or finishes. If you require additional quality assurance, you should make separate supervisory arrangements.
The Initial Notice is notification to your Local Authority of the proposed building work (controllable works) at a specified location, informing them that a private building control body (RBCA) has been appointed to provide the Building Control function.
The number of inspections depends on the; complexity, scale, scope and nature of your project. OWL BCS employ competent Registered Building Inspectors to provide a risk based approach (as mandated by the BSR) to assess the risk of proposed projects.
OWL BCS Registered Building Inspectors provide a timely service in reviewing the plans provided in accordance with the relevant standards. This identified; non-compliances, additional information required, and information required at completion.
A proposed inspection plan is issued at the time of the plan check / design review. This is a result of the risk assessment / profiling of your project – in accordance with OWL BCS Policy. It remains the responsibility of the relevant duty-holder to identify (& inform OWL BCS) should additional / varying inspections be required within OWL BCSs role as the appointed Building Control Body. Additional inspections may be required by the relevant RBIs judgement in accordance with OWL BCS Inspection Matrix Policy & Risk Management Policy.
A Final Certificate is the culmination of the project and ends the involvement of a Building Control Body. Neither Completion Certificates (Local Authorities) OR Final Certificates (RBCAs) provide a guarantee that the works meet the requirements of the Building Regulations. Their legal status is ‘evidence but not conclusive evidence’.
Similar to the Initial Notice, for an RBCA – the Final Certificate is submitted to the Local Authority. Certification, documentation, declarations and information will be needed to be provided to the RBCA (as detailed in our design review) prior to the issue of the final certificate.
Ensure that your photos are geotagged, as this confirms to Building Control that the work shown in the images was carried out at the site address. For more information on how to do this, click here.
A Model Connectivity Form is a standardised form that must be submitted to Building Control to show how a new dwelling will be provided with gigabit‑ready broadband infrastructure and/or a gigabit‑capable connection. If this is not provided, the Initial Notice may be rejected as the details of the Model Connectivity must be included within the contents of the Initial Notice.
The network operator should be your planned network operator contact details.
For further information in relation to the Model Connectivity Form, please refer to Approved Document R
It is the responsibility of duty holders to provide this information to the BC provider. ‘