Once you have appointed us to provide the necessary building control services we will serve the Initial Notice onto the relevant Local Authority. This is to advise them a registered / accredited building control body has been appointed and upon satisfactory completion, will issue a copy of the Final Certificate.
Please find below a summary of the service you will receive from Thames Building Control Ltd.
Serving the Initial Notice on your behalf:
- This is a legal document which we serve onto the Local Authority advising them we have been appointed to provide the necessary building control approval.
- The Initial Notice must be served no less than 5 days before work commences on site, otherwise it will be invalid, therefore you will have to make an application to the Local Authority.
- Approved Inspectors cannot provide retrospective approval or "sign off." This can only be provided by the Local Authority as it is classed as unauthorised work.
Our Plans Assessment:
- We undertake a "plans assessment" on all projects. This assessment is based on the plans we have received.
- Assessments usually take 10-15 days, based on the type of work involved. You will receive our comments or observations relating to any non-compliance items within a building control report/letter format.
- All reports or letters will be issued by email to the designated / responsible person (agent) with a copy issued to the client.
- During the process we will liaise as necessary with the design consultants relating to any Building Regulation queries they may have.
Final Certificates:
- Upon satisfactory completion of the work and final inspection has taken place along with all relevant information provided, we will issue the Final Certificate within 5 working days.
- We will retain full records, including plans/details based on the design assessment for future reference and continuity of control.
As part of the initial admin process and in accordance with Regulation 13 of The Building (Approved Inspectors) Regulations we will consult with the relevant water authority by providing them the site address, description of work and a site location plan. The water authority will inform us and the home owner if a build over agreement is required, if so, the owner will be required to apply for a "Build Over Agreement" (BOA).
This agreement is between the Water Authority and the owner of the property, it does not involve Thames Building Control, we are only legally required to undertake the consultation process.
BOA's are applicable if your extension or new build is over or within 3m from a public drain.
For all commercial projects and those which contain communal areas such as flats, Building Control must carry out a consultation process with the local Fire Authority as required under The Building (Approved Inspector) Regulation 12 and The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. During our plans assessment stage, we will check the proposed work will satisfy Part B of the Regulations. We will prepare a written report outlining our observation and comments and present our report, along with suitable plans to the Fire Authority.
Consultations usually take 15 days for the Fire Authority to provide a satisfactory response or they may request further information until satisfied.
Subsequently we must re-issue any relevant design revisions or fire safety strategy to the Fire Authority and keep them informed of any significant departures from the design to allow for any additional comments relating to section B1, B4 and B5 of the Building Regulations.
We will invoice you our fees once the Initial Notice has been issued to the Local Authority.
Fees are subject to our T&C's and all invoices must be paid on presentation to avoid any unnecessary delays. We are unable to book site inspections if unpaid invoices apply.
Payment can be made through your online bank, by BACS payment or cheque.
Unfortunately, we do not have the facility to take payment over the phone.
Our privacy statement aims to give you information of how Thames Building Control Ltd collects and process your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide us when requesting a quotation or engaging in our services. Our full copy of our privacy policy is available upon request.
This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
We collect, use and store different kinds of personal data about you which may include identity and contact data. All data collected and stored is solely for the purpose of executing our statutory building control duties. The data that we collect from you is stored in the UK and we have no need to transfer this data outside of the UK.
Thames Building Control Ltd will not process personal data onto third parties, other than for the purpose of carrying out our statutory building control duties to consult with the fire and rescue authority or sewerage undertaker in accordance with Regulation 12 & 13 of The Building (Approved Inspector etc.) Regulations 2010 and section 56 of the Building Act 1984, which requires us to provide notices and certificates onto the relevant Local Authority.
By law we must keep basic information about our clients (including Contact, Identity and Transaction Data) for 7 years after they cease being clients for tax purposes however due to industrial regulatory purposes, we shall retain this for 15 years.
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.
If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (“ICO”), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.