Building notice or full plans: which should you use?
In England, a full plans application gets your drawings checked and approved before you start. A building notice needs no plans and the work is checked as it goes on. A building notice cannot be used for some work, so check before you choose it.
What each one is
A full plans application asks building control to check and approve the work before it starts. It needs detailed plans and construction information, and the Planning Portal says it is often used for larger or more complex schemes.
A building notice needs no plans, so it is quicker and less detailed. The Planning Portal says it is often used for smaller jobs where the regulations are less complex, such as home alterations or extensions. The trade-off is that you need to be confident the work will comply, because you may have to correct work that does not, and building control can ask for structural calculations or plans as you go.
For work that is not higher-risk, GOV.UK says you can choose your local authority building control or a private registered building control approver.
When you cannot use a building notice
In England, regulation 12 of the Building Regulations 2010 says full plans must be deposited, not a building notice, for:
- work on a building that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to, or will apply to once the work is finished
- the erection of a building that fronts onto a private street
- work where paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 applies, which covers building over drains, sewers and disposal mains
Higher-risk building work is separate. Since the 2023 amendments, regulation 12 does not apply to it, so a building notice cannot be given. GOV.UK describes a higher-risk building as one that is at least 7 storeys or at least 18 metres high and either has at least two residential units or is a hospital or care home. For those, approval comes from the Building Safety Regulator before work starts.
If you are not sure whether the Fire Safety Order applies, or whether the job is higher-risk, ask building control before you pick a route.
Timing
With a building notice, the Planning Portal says you can start once the authority accepts it, or 2 days after it has been submitted. The notice lapses if work has not started within three years.
With full plans, the authority must decide within five weeks of deposit, or two months if you agree. Approval lasts three years from deposit, after which the authority may declare it of no effect if work has not started.
On either route, regulation 16 says you must not start until you have given the authority notice of your intention to start and at least two days have passed since the end of the day you gave it. Give notice that work has commenced within five days, and notice of completion within five days of finishing. Building control can also name stages it wants to inspect, such as foundations, damp proof courses and drains, and may tell you not to cover up work for a set period.
Inspections and completion certificates
Building control inspects the work while it is in progress, whichever route you use.
The completion certificate differs between the routes. On a building notice, the Planning Portal says the local authority issues one automatically once the work is satisfactorily complete. On full plans, you need to ask for one when you first make the application.
Do not skip approval. GOV.UK says the person doing the work could be prosecuted and fined if they do not comply, and without approval you may not have the certificates of compliance needed to sell a home.
Competent Person Schemes
Installers registered with a competent person scheme can self-certify certain work, instead of getting building regulations approval. GOV.UK lists the categories, which include electrical installations, heating and hot water, plumbing, replacement windows and doors, replacement roof coverings, and cavity and solid wall insulation.
If a trade on your job says a scheme covers its work, ask to see its registration, and ask the scheme what paperwork it issues for your job file.
Sources
- Planning Portal: Building notice
- Planning Portal: Full plans
- GOV.UK: Building regulations approval
- GOV.UK: Building control approval for higher-risk buildings
- legislation.gov.uk: The Building Regulations 2010, Part 3 (regulation 12)
- legislation.gov.uk: The Building Regulations 2010, regulation 16
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2023/911, amendments to the Building Regulations 2010 (higher-risk building work)
- GOV.UK: Competent person schemes