In addition to planning permission, most applications will also require Building Regulations approval. they describe the minimum set of standards which the building has to meet. the building has to be designed with these in mind. Building Control will check the design and construction to ensure that it is compliant.

Building control services are provided by the Local Authority and Approved Inspectors. In each case Building Regulation approval will be required and there are 2 ways of achieving this:-

Full Plans Approval - detailed plans are prepared and submitted for checking. Any deficiencies in the information provided will need to be amended before the plans receive approval. Alternatively, a conditional approval will be issued with the matters being resolved before work commences. Following this, work can commence and will be inspected at regular stages.

Building Notice - a statement is formally submitted to Building Control, confirming that the work will comply with Building Regulations. This is a quicker route as work may commence within 48 hours of the notice of intention to start. The problem lies in the fact that if there are any areas of work which don't comply, they will have to be altered and this could be expensive. For this reason, a Building Notice is probably only useful on small projects.

Completion Certificates - Once the project has been completed, a certificate should be obtained from Building Control. This is confirmation that the work complies with Building Regulations. 

Information required by Building Regulations can be found in the Approved Documents. Each deals with a separate issue and includes structural design, fire safety and energy conservation. This information will be required by builders when preparing quotations and constructing the building.