Unlike Planning Applications which are considered as public information, Building Regulation submissions are not: the applications are private between the applicant and the Local Authority Building Control Unit (BCU). There is no obligation for the Council to keep a public register or make information available, except to answer Land Search questions.
There are only two statutory consultees that must be consulted. These are:
However, it would be appropriate for Building Control Surveyors to consult with other relevant Council units/departments that may have an interest in the work being proposed.
Where the BCU has the capability to scan all the Building Regulation submissions onto an on-line or intranet system, the plans can be made available to other Council departments very easily. There may be varying degrees of accessibility, depending on need, but based on user demand i.e. driven by the department requiring access to the information.
All BCUs will maintain a variety of reports run at regular intervals to maintain and manage work flows. This information is usually derived from computerised registration systems. The reports can be made available to a variety of different internal and external organisations, provided the Data Protection Act is observed. Access to reports can also be maintained electronically, provided that security of the system is maintained and there are no financial implications regarding accessibility to the network of licensed software seats.
BCUs will have standard reports for the number of Building Regulation submissions received in any given period i.e. week/month etc. They will also monitor the number of submissions commenced and completed in any given period. The minimum information recorded in these reports is the application number, the address, the project description, and appropriate dates (received, approved, commenced and completed etc.).
These three basic reports will provide enough information for most consultees to determine if they have an interest in any particular project, and when that interest needs to be pursued.
The most important issue for any consultee is to be aware that this information exists and to set up systems/processes to ensure the reports are received and acted upon.
Because Building Regulations can only require two sets of plans to be deposited (sometimes three when fire service consultation is necessary), it is not possible to circulate the plans to the consultees. Where the plans are not accessible on line, it may be more appropriate for the consultee to arrange to view the plans from the file copy being used by the Building Control Surveyor. This is because one copy will be kept on file for the surveyor to use for plan vetting and inspection services. Another copy is used to send to the consultant engineers, planning officers etc. and may be delayed considerably before it could be circulated to other consultees. Some authorities (albeit very few) will send the second copy of the plans back to the applicant stamped Approved/Refused with the decision notice. More often the second copy will be sent to the Council Tax/Business Rates department for their records to be updated.
It should be remembered that Building Control Surveyors are required to work within fixed time limits, if those time limits are not met applicants can assume approval of the work and request fees paid for plan vetting to be returned.
Any system or process in place for consultees should address the roles and responsibilities of each department for their resultant actions, such as;
A degree of caution is needed when looking at reports to establish if consultation is required, particularly regarding changes of use of buildings. For instance, Planning Permission and Building Regulations do not have the same use classes. There will be many changes of use under Planning Permission that will not require Building Regulation consent and visa versa. Some changes of use for Building Regulations will not require any plans to be deposited (although these applications will be limited to domestic dwellings).
Similarly caution is needed over who the building owner is, because both Planning Applications and Building Regulation submissions can be made on a speculative basis. This means that it is not necessarily the building owner or land owner that will make the application. Also once permission has been obtained, the applicant or owner may sell the development on to release equity, because the property or land has become more valuable with the granting of consent. The eventual building owner or tenant may not be the person who originally applied for the consent.
Planning Applications are kept on a public register and are available for everyone affected by a scheme to inspect and comment on. The Planning Authority must consider all relevant representations made to them prior to making their decision.
Before Planning Permission can be granted, there are many statutory consultees that have to be consulted and their comments considered in the decision making process. These statutory consultees are described in the Town & Country (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 (SI 1995 no 419) – Article 10. The Health and Safety Executive are identified as a statutory consultee when a development includes toxic, highly reactive, explosive or inflammable substances. However, it is for the Planning Authority to determine if in their opinion consultation should take place, based on the information contained within the Planning Application.
Notwithstanding the statutory consultations mentioned above it would be appropriate for the local Planning Authority to consult with other council departments that may have an interest. In particular, Environmental Health Departments may be consulted or asked to provide advice on such matters as ground contamination, noise control, or health and safety advice under CDM Regulations etc.
Most Planning and BCUs will use the same software for their own computerised registration systems. The same problems mentioned above for Building Control will be applicable for Planning Applications. Some authorities will have on-line plans/applications that can be viewed easily and others will not be so advanced.
All Planning Authorities are required to submit to the government key performance indicators for statistical information regarding their planning applications, consequently they will have the capability to produce a variety of computer reports to provide information to others.
Where electronic plans are not available, planning applications consist of 5 copies of plans and information, so there is usually a spare copy that can be used for in-house consultation. Where these are used for statutory consultations, one copy is always available as it has to be accessible for members of the public to view during normal office hours.
As mentioned above for Building Control any consultation process or system needs to address the roles and responsibilities of each department in order that their resultant actions are effective.
Planning Authorities have to advertise the applications they receive each week. This information should be all that is needed by a consultee to determine if they have an interest in a scheme. The advertised information includes the Application number, the location, the applicant details, and a description of the work.
Knowledge of the different types of planning applications is required to better understand the scope of the work. For instance, applications for advertisements or tree preservation orders would hold little interest for EHOs, some applications for listed building consent or within conservation areas may require further questions to be asked. Outline Planning Applications will be a request for permission in principle and the information contained within the application will be very limited. It may only include a sketch asking for permission regarding a proposed use and access into the site. A second detailed application will have to be submitted later, if consent is given for the Outline Application.
As mentioned above, some Planning Applications will be speculative and the ownership may change prior to work on site commencing.