PO Box 230
Blueschool Street
Hereford
HR1 2ZB
Office Tel No: 01432 261940
Email: buildingcontrolenquiries@herefordshire.gov.uk
Website: www.herefordshire.gov.uk/buildingcontrol
Full plans application form
Building notice application form
Regularisation application form
Debit/credit card payment form If you need help to understand a document, or would like it in another format or language, please call 01432 260500 or email info@herefordshire.gov.uk
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Building control process and application forms
- Your choice of application route
- Online application forms
- Printable application forms
- How do I find out the progress of my application?
- Time limits for starting building work
- Competent person schemes
Your choice of application route
You have two application choices for building works that you are planning to carry out: the Full Plans application or the Building Notice. There is also the Regularisation application, which is for gaining retrospective approval for works, which have already been done illegally.
You can submit the Full Plans or Building Notice application online or in paper form.
To help you decide on the best route to take, please see the information under each form:
- Full plans application
- Building notice and replacement windows and doors application
- Regularisation application
With either the Building Notice or the Full Plans route, our surveyor will visit your site at regular intervals during the course of the project to check the work and give necessary guidance and support. When completed, as long as the work is to the required standard, we will issue a completion certificate. This is likely to be an essential document should you ever wish to sell the property.
There is no difference in the fee between a Full Plans and a Building Notice application.
Online application forms
You can complete your Full Plans or Building Notice application form online, and upload it to us at the click of a button, along with all the relevant drawings and supporting documents if you hold these in an electronic format. To make use of this service please visit Submit-a-Plan
If using the service for the first time, you will need to complete a short registration process.
If you are already registered, you can login to Submit-a-Plan and access our application forms directly.
The advantages of applying online are:
- Instant transfer of the application to us at any time of day or night
- Financial savings through the elimination of paper, printing and postage costs
- Reduced impact on the environment
Please note: stamped approved drawings are not sent out with Approval Notices for electronic application submissions.
Printable application forms
Full plans application
For domestic and non-domestic works.
This is generally the most popular route chosen by our customers.
A full set of architectural drawings and specifications are required with the application, and these will undergo an assessment by our surveyors during the approval period. During this time, they will liaise with you or (more commonly) your architect/designer to resolve any queries and to obtain any further information required.
Once any queries have been resolved, we will issue a Building Regulations Approval certificate. The whole process takes a maximum of five weeks, or two months if you request additional time to address any queries we raise.
The main advantage of the full plans application is that you are able to start work with a set of design proposals that are acceptable in terms of the Building Regulations because they have been through the approval process. You are not obliged, however, to wait for the approval to begin work. You can start any time after you submit the application, but you should maintain close contact with our surveyor, as we may not have assessed your plans at that stage.
You must submit a full plans application for works to shops, offices, factories, hotels, boarding houses so that we can consult with the Fire Authority to ensure the provision of adequate fire precaution measures.
If you need help to understand a document, or would like it in another format or language, please call 01432 260500 or email info@herefordshire.gov.uk
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Back to topBuilding notice and replacement windows and doors application
For general work to domestic buildings you can submit a building notice giving details of your proposals.
No detailed plans are required initially with this option - we require only a to-scale site location plan showing your property in relation to those around it. There is no approval process and, therefore, we will check the building work with your builder as the work progresses. However, we may need to ask for supporting information, such as structural calculations, as the work proceeds.
The Building Notice is well suited to simple, small-scale works where the builder knows what is required to meet the latest Building Regulations. The disadvantage, however, is that without a set of approved proposals at the start, there is a risk that non-compliant work may be some way advanced before it is identified, resulting in costly repairs to put it right.
The Building Notice cannot be used for non-domestic buildings, or for building work, which affects a public sewer. For these the Full Plans route is the only option.
You should submit your application, along with the correct statutory fee, site plan and any relevant drawings and details, a minimum of 48 hours before the work starts.
If you need help to understand a document, or would like it in another format or language, please call 01432 260500 or email info@herefordshire.gov.uk
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Back to topRegularisation application
If work that should have had Building Regulations consent has already been carried out, then you may be able to obtain retrospective approval for it with a Regularisation application.
We may need to open up some of the works for inspection as part of this process.
If you carry out building work illegally and you choose not to submit a Regularisation application then you may be vulnerable to enforcement action.
If you need help to understand a document, or would like it in another format or language, please call 01432 260500 or email info@herefordshire.gov.uk
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How do I find out the progress of my application?
To find out how your Building Regulations application is progressing please contact us.
Time limits for starting building work
If an application has been submitted and accepted and has not commenced within three years of the submission date, the application will be deemed to have expired and will no longer be valid. If your intention is still to carry out the works, you will need to submit a new application so that it can be validated by the building control service before you start the works.
Competent person schemes
Some simple repetitive works and certain specialist works can be carried out through government approved 'competent person' schemes. Contractors who are registered on one of these schemes are able to carry out work in their particular specialism without the need to submit a building regulations application, even though the work may be subject to the regulations. They will issue you with a certificate on completion of the work.
Common examples include heating and plumbing installations, replacement windows and doors, domestic electrical works, cavity wall insulation and renewable energy installations (for example solar panels). Your contractor will be able to advise you on the particulars of any competent person schemes they subscribe to, but if there is any doubt then you should ask them how they intend to handle the issue of building regulations consent.
Schedule 3 from the Building Regulations 2010 gives an up-to-date list of current schemes, see the technical guidance page.