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The Home Office has produced a guide for responsible persons and others to whom the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (as amended) (“the FSO”) applies on enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance. The guide explains how the FSO is enforced and advises of the sanctions that are available to Enforcing Authorities if the responsible person fails to comply with this legislation.
The Home Office has also produced guidance to assist responsible persons to understand their duties under fire safety laws in England.
The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 2010
This is a notice to inform you that Dorset Council have revised the charges for Building Regulation Applications following recent changes in legislation.
The new charges will come into effect from the 6 December 2023. The hourly rate charge for Building Control will be £80 plus VAT.
We work out bespoke Building Regulation application fees for all individual building projects based on the time spent on the application, depending on the type of building work, the number of surveyor visits required, the information provided with the application and the amount of administrative time.
All applications will receive a Fee Quote, you can make payments over the phone. Please contact the team to discuss your Building Regulation application.
Currently we are developing a link to our brand-new electronic payment system.
The Building Regulations changed on the 1 October 2023, along with the implementation of sections of the Building Safety Act 2022. Any building work where Building Regulations are required will be subject to the new Duty Holder Regime.
The new regime imposes new requirements on applicants, agents, and builders.
It is the Client’s responsibility to appoint a Principal Contractor and Principal Designer. The aim is to ensure that at each stage in a building project, duty holders are identified, and the roles, responsibilities and expectations are clear. This will ensure clients can consider and demonstrate how the building work will meet the requirements of the Building Regulations.
For further information about the roles and responsibilities.
The overall responsibility to show compliance with the Building Regulations lies with the Client, the Principal Designer, and the Principal Contractor. This applies to all types of Building Regulation applications. This has always been the case, but it is now set down in legislation. Building Control is to act as the Regulator and Building Control Inspectors are not able to advise on any elements of the design or construction methods of the development.
Application forms are being updated and additional questions will be asked:
Building Control must be notified when you start work on site in order for us to carry out the necessary inspections. (Start of work stage)
There is now an additional stage where Building Control Must be notified. This is the deemed commenced stage. A template for this notice will be provided once your application is registered.
Foundations are constructed, and the structure of the lowest floor level is complete.
Sub surface structure of the building or the extension including all foundations and the structure of the ground floor level is completed.
Constructed 15% of the overall work.
A notice of completion must be submitted to us within 5 days of the work being completed.
A template for this notice will be provided once your application is registered.
The notice of completion will require the following information:
For buildings subject to the Fire Safety Order, the client must submit the same notice, but within 5 days of occupation, and it must also state the following:
New Building Regulations and Approved Documents and the Transitional arrangements reminder - LABC.
The building performance gap, information that is required proving your new dwelling is built to the right level of thermal performance. The following information provided by LABC details information and photographic evidence need to address this.
On Friday the United Kingdom (UK) Government issued important documents affecting the building regulations in England. Amendments to Approved Document J were announced.
These come into effect on 1 October 2022 and make key changes to Approved Document J: Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems:
For more information on the amendments visit GOV.UK.
On 25 July, the Department of Levelling Up and Communities (DLUHC) published guidance relating to the Building Safety Act, which was granted Royal Assent on 28 April.
The Act gives residents and homeowners more rights, powers and protections. It delivers protections for qualifying leaseholders from the costs associated with remediating historical building safety defects, and a toolkit of measures that will allow those responsible for building safety defects to be held to account.
The Act creates three new bodies to provide effective oversight of the new regime:
Many of the detailed provisions in the Act will be implemented over the next two years through a programme of secondary legislation.
For more information about the Act, visit Gov.UK.
View the Dorset Council Building Control New Dwellings Guidance Booklet for the new Building Regulations that came into effect in June 2022. If you require this booklet in an accessible format, please contact us.
Key insights into Approved Documents:
F = Ventilation,
L = Energy efficiency,
O = Overheating,
S = Electrical vehicle charging points
New improvements to fire safety guidance form part of a wider update to tighten building regulations and provide clearer fire safety rules for the design or construction of residential developments. For further information about the improvements visit GOV.UK.
The bill will improve building standards, ensure the safety of residents, and protect leaseholders from the costs of any remedial work. The new Act sees the creation of a new construction products regulator with the power to remove products from the market and a new building safety regulator. Visit the LABC website to read the full full news article.
Read our recent feature with Local Authority Building Control (LABC) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE). Our feature focused on a Career in the Building Control profession.
New homes and buildings in England will have to produce significantly less CO2 under new rules announced by the government to help the country move towards net zero.
There are new requirements for the installation of infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.
Visit Gov.uk to see information about the Building Safety Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 5 July 2021.
This is a notice to inform you that Dorset Council has revised the charges for Building Regulation Applications. The new charges will come into affect from the 6 April 2021.
The hourly rate for Building Control will increase from £68 to £70 plus VAT.
We work out bespoke fees for individual projects depending on the type of building work, the number of surveyor visits and the amount of administrative time.
See further information about our Building Control Service.
LABC have launched a new website, Front Door, for homeowners. offering advice on home improvements, building regulations, planning permission, working with builders and much more. More details can be found at https://labcfrontdoor.co.uk.
HSE have announced the appointment of a new Chief Inspector of Buildings.
The UK Government has issued a new 'Manual to the Building Regulations', a short guide that gives an outline on how the building regulations system in England works.
The manual is aimed at a range of audiences: from homeowners planning home improvements to sole tradespeople, builders, architects and building control professionals.
The first half of the guide, Volume 1, gives an outline of how the system currently works and Volume 2 provides additional guidance and is geared towards people working in construction.
The government is set to publish its landmark Bill, this will make residents safer in their homes. See the Gov.uk news release for further information.
See the changes to building rules in England. This will help add larger accessible toilets to more than 150 buildings a year.
The government has announced changes to planning permitted development regulations from 1 August. It is important to note that these changes are with reference to Permitted Development rules under the planning process. Building Regulation applications, site inspection requests and Demolitions notices under the Building Act should still be submitted to the Building Control team in the normal way. Please contact the area offices team to discuss your Building Regulation application.
The Government have published Amendments to Approved Document B of the Building Regulations (Fire Safety). See this LABC news article for further information.
Following the major incident in London at Grenfell Tower, Dorset Building Control would like to reassure residents that we are working closely with Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service to ensure the safety of flats in Dorset.
We suggest residents look at the advice given on Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service website. Please contact the Fire Service or your Building Control for any further information.
If you have a septic tank that discharges directly to a surface water outfall, you will need to replace or upgrade your treatment system by 1 January 2020, or when you sell your property if before this date.
If the Environment Agency finds evidence that your septic tank is discharging to a surface water outfall which is causing pollution, you will need to replace or upgrade your system earlier than 1 January 2020. You will usually have to do this within 1 year, although this will be agreed on a case-by-case basis.
Find out more about septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants
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