Full plans or building notice? How to get building regulations approval for home improvement work in England

Before building work starts, someone has to decide who will check it and which type of application to make. This guide explains the choices: a full plans application, a building notice and, for work already done, regularisation. It covers England only and is general information, not legal or technical advice. Check your project with your council's building control team or a registered building control approver before you start, because the right route depends on the work.

Building regulations are not planning permission

Building regulations set minimum standards for how the work is designed and built: Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 covers areas including structure, fire safety, ventilation, drainage and the conservation of fuel and power. GOV.UK states that building regulations approval is different from planning permission, and that you might need both.

So a project built under permitted development, confirmed by a Lawful Development Certificate or granted through a householder planning application still has to comply with building regulations.

What work needs approval

Building regulations cover the construction and extension of buildings, and GOV.UK says approval may also be needed for many alterations, including replacing fuse boxes and connected electrics, installing a bathroom that involves plumbing, replacing windows and doors, replacing roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs, and installing or replacing a heating system. Loft conversions bring their own requirements: see our loft conversion regulations guide.

Competent person schemes

GOV.UK explains that you do not need to get approval yourself if you use an installer registered with a competent person scheme, who can self-certify that the work complies. The government's list of authorised schemes includes FENSA and CERTASS for replacement windows and doors in existing homes, NICEIC (Certsure) and NAPIT for electrical installations in dwellings, and the Gas Safe Register for gas appliances. The list notes that Gas Safe is not technically a competent person scheme, but its installers have the same responsibilities for complying with building regulations.

Who checks the work

For a house or other building that is not higher-risk, GOV.UK says you can apply to your council's building control service, usually through the Planning Portal, or to a private registered building control approver. If you choose an approver, it tells the council about your work by giving an "initial notice".

Since 6 April 2024, under changes made by the Building Safety Act 2022, private businesses doing building control work have had to register with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). GOV.UK confirms that the old CICAIR approved inspector register no longer exists and that the BSR now oversees building control bodies. The BSR's register for England shows each approver's registration number, the work it may do and any conditions.

Higher-risk buildings follow a different system. GOV.UK defines them as buildings at least 7 storeys or 18 metres high with at least 2 residential units, or that are hospitals or care homes. Most building work in an existing higher-risk building needs approval from the BSR itself, with exceptions including competent person work and emergency repairs.

Route 1: a full plans application

With a full plans application, detailed drawings and specifications are checked before work starts. GOV.UK describes it as the most thorough option: you can expect a decision within 5 weeks, or 2 months with your consent, and you will usually get a completion certificate within 8 weeks of the work being completed, as long as it complies.

The main advantage is certainty. Hertfordshire Building Control notes that its approval notice can be passed on to a future purchaser, and that builders should work to the approved plans. Manchester City Council recommends full plans if you are unsure which route to use.

Approval does not last indefinitely. Under section 32 of the Building Act 1984, an approval lapses if the work is not commenced within 3 years of the day the application was made. Regulation 46A says that, for a horizontal extension, such as a rear or side extension, work counts as commenced only when the sub-surface structure, including all foundations, and the structure of the ground floor are complete.

When full plans is compulsory

Regulation 12 rules out a building notice, and requires full plans, where:

• the building is one to which the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies, or will apply after the work. According to GOV.UK, the Order covers workplaces, premises the public can access and the common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings, and also applies to bed and breakfasts and self-catering lets;
• the work includes erecting a building fronting onto a private street;
• paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 applies, which concerns building over, or in a way that could interfere with or obstruct access to, a drain, sewer or disposal main shown on a sewerage undertaker's map of sewers. Council services such as Hertfordshire Building Control explain this as building over or within 3 metres of a public sewer.

Route 2: a building notice

A building notice involves no advance approval of plans. GOV.UK says it is only for smaller projects: you can start work 2 days after the notice is submitted, but you do not get formal approval as you do with full plans. Under regulation 13, a notice for an extension must include a plan at a scale of at least 1:1250 and details of the drainage, and building control can ask for further plans during the work. A building notice is not treated as a full plans application, and it ceases to have effect if the work has not started within 3 years.

The risk is that compliance is judged on site. Stockport Council warns that a problem will usually be found after work has started and could mean alterations, and that you need to be sure your builder is familiar with the regulations.

Starting work and inspections

If you apply to the council by full plans or building notice, regulation 16 says building work must not start until notice of intention to start has been given and at least two days have passed. If you use a registered building control approver, ask them which notices are needed before work starts. If you use council building control, it can then require you to tell it when specified stages are reached, and can set periods during which that work must not be covered up. Our guide to building regulations sign-off explains inspections and the completion certificate.

Route 3: regularisation, after the event

If work was carried out without approval on or after 11 November 1985, the owner can apply for a regularisation certificate. GOV.UK says this route is available from a local authority only. Under regulation 18, the council can require work to be opened up for inspection, tested or sampled, and the work is judged against the requirements that applied when it was carried out.

What happens if you build without approval

Contravening building regulations is an offence under section 35 of the Building Act 1984. On conviction on indictment, the maximum penalty is two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both. Under section 36, the building control authority can require the owner to remove or alter work that does not comply. If the owner does not act within 28 days, the authority can do the work and recover its costs. Such a notice can be given up to 10 years after the work was completed. GOV.UK adds that without approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you sell your home.

Fees

Fees are not set nationally. GOV.UK explains that councils base their fees on their costs, which depend on factors such as the type of work, site inspections and floor area. Registered building control approvers negotiate their fees directly with you, and you might not have to pay a fee for work carried out solely for a person with a disability. New rules on how councils charge took effect on 6 November 2026: see our guide to the building control charging changes.

A practical checklist

1. Check whether any part can be self-certified by an installer registered with a competent person scheme.
2. Choose council building control or a registered building control approver, and check the approver on the BSR register.
3. Consider full plans for extensions, loft conversions and structural work, and use it wherever regulation 12 makes it compulsory, including work over or affecting a sewer shown on a map of sewers.
4. If you use council building control, give notice at least two days before starting (ask your approver what applies if you use one), and serve any notices needed under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
5. Agree payment stages and the completion documents you need, such as the completion certificate or competent person certificates, with your contractor before work starts.

When the approvals are in place, you can request quotes from independent builders. Home Builders does not carry out building work: we ask advertisers to provide proof of insurance, and any contract is between you and the builder you choose.

Sources: GOV.UK: building regulations approval, when you need approval; GOV.UK: building regulations approval, how to apply; The Building Regulations 2010 (regulations 12, 13, 16, 18 and 46A, and Schedule 1); Building Act 1984 (sections 32, 35 and 36); MHCLG: competent person schemes; Building Safety Regulator: find a registered building control approver in England; GOV.UK: Construction Industry Council approved inspectors (CICAIR); The Building (Registered Building Control Approvers etc.) (England) Regulations 2024, regulation 45; GOV.UK: fire safety in the workplace; Hertfordshire Building Control: full plans and building notices; Stockport Council: building notice and full plans applications; Manchester City Council: choose which application to use.

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