A new Building Control regime comes into force on 1 October 2023 – see our news page for more details.

Building Control news and updates

Inspections can be booked by telephone, email or via the LABC Site Inspection App.

However you choose to book, please provide:

  • your contact details (telephone and/or email)
  • the address of the inspection
  • what stage of works you require to be inspected

How to book

All new applications are to be submitted online only until further notice.

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Building Safety Act 2022 – changes coming into force 1 October 2023

The Building Safety Act 2022 gained Royal Assent on 28 April 2022.

The Act makes provision for the safety of people in and about buildings and the standard of buildings Building Safety Act 2022 (external link).

Higher Risk Buildings (HRB)

The Building Safety Act 2022 amends the Building Act 1984 to: 

  • create powers to prescribe requirements on those who procure, design, plan, manage and undertake building work
  • introduce new enforcement powers for building control authorities

Once secondary legislation is commenced on 1 October 2023, you will need to follow the new building control regime if you:

  • plan to build a new higher-risk building (HRB)
  • create one through change of use or alteration / extension
  • plan to undertake building work to an existing HRB

To check if your building meets the definition of an HRB, please refer to the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023 (external link).

If your building meets the definition please also see The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 (external link).

This means that: 

  • you submit a building control approval application to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to obtain approval before you can start any building work
  • you obtain approval when you make major changes to the proposed work (please refer to Major changes in the HSE guidance document mentioned below)
  • the work is suitably completed to meet the functional requirements of the building regulations.
  • you construct the work in accordance with those approvals (please refer to Notifiable changes in the BSR HSE guidance document below ), and that at the end of the project you provide evidence (please refer to Storing building information – the golden thread HSE guidance (external link)) through a completion certificate application to demonstrate that you built what you said you would or were given approval for
  • the work is suitably completed to meet the functional requirements of the building regulations

To help navigate the legislation and support the new building control approval process for higher-risk buildings, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has developed some new guidance (PDF, 990KB) (external link).

If you have already submitted a Full Plans application (before 1 October 2023) or an Initial Notice relating to a Higher Risk building, please familiarise yourself with the transitional arrangements.

Amendments to other Building Control legislation 

In addition to the above, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published other secondary legislation that applies to the new building control framework.

The following regulations will come into force on 1 October 2023:

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Local Authority Building Control News 

To keep up to date with Building Control News see the LABC website (external link).

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The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 implemented the majority of the recommendations made by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry in its Phase 1 report which required a change in the law.

The regulations seek to improve the fire safety of blocks of flats in ways which are practical, cost-effective for individual leaseholders and proportionate to the risk of fire.

The regulations came into force on 23 January 2023.

See the Fire Safety(England) Regulations 2022 guidance - GOV.UK (external link).

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Building Amendment (England) Regulations 2022 

The amendments referred to can be found in Approved Document B of the Building Regulations and came into force on 1 December 2022. Please see the  Approved Document or the Regulations for the full details (external link).

In brief, the changes focus on the following fire safety provisions:

  • a. Ban of combustible materials in and on the external walls of buildings:
    • Consequential amendments following the laying of the Building (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022. Updated provisions in Section 10 for residential buildings (purpose groups 1 and 2) with a storey 11 metres or more in height.
  • b. Secure information boxes: a new recommendation for secure information boxes in blocks of flats with storeys over 11 metres
  • c. Evacuation alert systems: a new recommendation for evacuation alert systems in blocks of flats with storeys over 18 metres
  • d. Clarifications and corrections: clarification of further diagrams, further text clarifications and corrections. The changes are set out in the June 2022 AD B amendment booklet and November 2022 correction notice

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Approved Document J has been amended - 1 October 2022

Approved Document J has been amended to extend the provisions and update the guidance for carbon monoxide alarms in support of requirement J3 (Warning of release of carbon monoxide). This new edition sets out that a carbon monoxide alarm should be fitted upon the installation of fixed combustion appliances that burn solid fuels, gas fuels (excluding gas cookers) and oil fuels.

A carbon monoxide alarm (which complies with British Standard BS EN 50291) should be fitted when fixed combustion appliances are installed in new homes and in existing homes for new or replacement fixed combustion appliances.

The new arrangements came into force on 1 October 2022. Please see Approved Document J for guidance on the specification and placement of carbon monoxide alarms:

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Updated and new Building Regulations from 15 June 2022

The Approved Documents listed below come into force in England on 15 June 2022.

  • Approved Document F - Ventilation Volume 1 (Dwellings) and Volume 2 (Buildings other than dwellings) 
  • Approved Document L - Volume 1 (Dwellings) and Volume 2 (Buildings other than dwellings) 
  • Approved Document O - Overheating
  • Approved Document S - Infrastructure for Charging Electric Vehicles

Transitional arrangements are in place.

This means that if a building notice, initial notice, or full plans for building work are submitted to a local authority before 15 June 2022, then provided the building work commences before 15 June 2023, work on that individual building is permitted to continue under the previous standards.

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Cladding and EWS1 forms

This form was originally designed following Government advice regarding external wall systems on buildings above 18m and was created to ensure residential buildings over 18m tall could be assessed for safety to allow lenders to offer mortgages.

Changes in Government advice in January 2020, brought all residential buildings potentially in scope, however not every building will require an EWS1 form, and on 8 March 2021 further guidance has been provided and the form has been updated.

Haringey Building Control cannot complete these forms, and advise any interested parties to see the RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) website (external link) for further information.

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Planning your next home improvement project? Need some guidance?

LABC has launched a website called Front Door for homeowners looking for building control and practical home improvement advice.

Please take a look at the website - there is a wealth of free advice available.

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Page last updated:

September 6, 2023