Building Control Service
When new buildings, extensions or alterations are being
considered, most people automatically assume that they will need
planning permission. This is often true but can be
confused with Building Control.
Regardless of whether planning permission is needed, the work
will in most cases, have to satisfy national Building Regulations.
This is called Building Control.
Whilst Planning relates to the use of the building and it's
aesthetic design and other features, Building Control is mainly
concerned with the administration of the Building
Regulations.
The regulations control things such as structural
stability, means of escape in case of fire, structural fire
precautions, resistance to moisture, sound and thermal insulation,
stairways, drainage and access for disabled persons.
This form of control ensures that buildings will be safe ,
accessible and wont pose a health risk to the occupants. It also
ensures that buildings will be thermally efficient.
Building Control is carried out in two main
ways. Firstly by the submission of plans to the
council and secondly by the inspection of work on site,
although an increasing number of projects are now dealt with under
a simplified procedure called a Building Notice whereby control is
wholly exercised on site.
Within South Lakeland the Building Control group also deals
with dangerous structures, demolitions, street/house naming and
numbering, and also act as consultees on Public Entertainment
Licensees and land charges.