Do I need Building Regulations approval?

Certain building work does not require Building Regulations approval. However, this does not mean that the same proposal does not require Planning Permission. We suggest you contact both your council Planning department as well as our building control team.

See: Do I need planning permission?

Pre-application advice

If you would like to check whether your proposed work needs Building Regulations approval before you submit an application, you can email us at bcpartnership@fareham.gov.uk

Please provide written details and sketches of your proposal if possible. We will then give a decision as to whether the work needs Building Regulations approval. You may find it useful to keep our responses with the details of your property for future reference. This can be particularly helpful to speed up any future property transaction.

The Planning Portal interactive house is also useful guidance tool to check whether Building Regulations approval and/or Planning Permission are needed for your project.

Typical types of work that need Building Regulations approval

This is not an exhaustive list so contact the Building Control Partnership if you are unsure whether your proposal will need approval.

  • Erection of a new building
  • Re-erection of an existing building
  • Extension of a building
  • Material alteration or change of use of a building
  • Installation, alteration or extension of a controlled service or fitting to a building – for example a new boiler or new external window.

Examples

  • Home extensions such as for a kitchen, bedroom, lounge or loft conversions
  • Internal structural alterations, such as the removal of a load-bearing wall or partition
  • Installation of baths, showers, WCs which involve new drainage or waste plumbing
  • Installation of new heating appliances
  • New chimneys or flues
  • Underpinning of foundations
  • Alterations that affect the building’s means of escape or fire precautions
  • Altered openings for new windows in roofs or walls
  • Repairing or replacing more than 25% of the surface area of a roof
  • Installation of cavity wall insulation
  • Erection of new buildings that are not exempt from building regulations
  • Access improvements for disabled people
  • Replacement windows and doors
  • Electric installations such as installing a new consumer unit or a new electric shower unit.

Structures which are exempt from Building Regulations

Some building types and extensions are exempt from the Building Regulations. This means an application doesn’t need to be submitted to Building Control. You might still need planning permission though, so make sure you check with your local council Planning department first.

An extension at ground level with a floor area of no more than 30 sq. metres which is either:

  • A covered yard or covered way
  • A carport open on at least two sides
  • A conservatory or porch, which has glazing within 800mm of floor level to windows, and within 1500mm of floor level to doors and sidelights which:
    • If broken on impact, breaks in a way which will not cause injury, or
    • Will resist impact without breaking, or
    • Will be shielded or protected from impact. (Please refer to ‘Conservatories and porches’ below for full exemption criteria)
    • A veranda or loggia.

Detached buildings  exempt from Building Regulations

Detached agricultural buildings are exempt from the Building Regulations (including buildings used for horticulture, fruit growing, the growing of plants for seed and fish farming, but not those buildings used for retailing, packing or exhibition), as long as:

  • No part of the building is used as a house or flat; and
  • No part of the building is less than 1.5 x its height from any part of another building which contains sleeping accommodation; and
  • The building is provided with a fire exit no more than 30 metres from any point within the building.
  • Greenhouses – unless they are used for retailing, packing or exhibiting
  • Temporary buildings – to be used for less than 28 days
  • Mobile homes – within the meaning of the Mobile Homes Act 1983, but not their drainage
  • Detached garages, summerhouses, sheds and outbuildings – provided they are single storey, and:
    • The building does not contain any sleeping areas
    • Has a floor area (measured internally) no larger than 30m2, and
    • No part of the building is less than 1m from any boundary, or
    • The building has a floor area no larger than 15m2, built substantially of non combustible materials and contains no sleeping areas.

Conservatories and porches – Do they require permission?

If a conservatory or porch complies with all of the following criteria, then it does not require Building Regulations approval:

  • Is built at ground level, and the internal floor area is less than 30m2, and
  • It is separated from other rooms by external quality doors, and the heating system of the dwelling is not extended into the conservatory or porch, and
  • In the case of a conservatory, not less than 3/4 of the area of its roof and not less than half of the area of its external walls should be made from glazing materials. The glazing materials to the external walls are either:
    • Toughened glass to BS 6206, or
    • Laminated glass to BS 6206, or
    • Plastic, or ordinary glass of equal thickness and size to the following:
      • Thickness Size – 6mm Max. 250mm wide and up to 0.5m2 in area, 8mm Up to 1.10m2 10mm Up to 2.25m2 in area, 12mm Up to 4.50m2 in area, 15mm Any size

To find a full list of exempt projects

Full details of all the exempt buildings and works can be found in Schedule 2 of The Building Regulations 2010.

Contact Building Control Partnership