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Why comply with the Building Regulations?
It's important to understand building regulations as you are responsible for making sure that the work complies with them if you are carrying out building work personally.
If you are employing a builder, the responsibility will usually be theirs - but you should confirm this at the beginning. Also bear in mind that if you are the owner of the building, it is ultimately you who may be served with an enforcement notice if the work does not comply with the regulations.
Remember that complying with Building Regulations is a separate matter from getting planning permission for your work.
What building work should comply with Building Regulations?
The following types of project amount to 'Building Work' as defined in Regulation 3 of the Building Regulations:
• the erection or extension of a building
• the installation or extension of a service or fitting which is controlled under the regulations
• an alteration project involving work which will temporarily or permanently affect the ongoing compliance of the building, service or fitting with the requirements relating to structure, fire, or access to and use of buildings
• the insertion of insulation into a cavity wall
• the underpinning of the foundations of a building
If you are planning to carry out such work, then it should comply with the Building Regulations.
The works themselves should meet the relevant technical requirements in the Building Regulations and they should not make other fabric, services and fittings less compliant than they previously were - or dangerous. For example, if you replace external windows or doors the building should comply to at least the same degree as it did before or, where it exceeded the standards, not be reduced below the standards in relation to:
• means of escape from fire
• air supply for combustion appliances and their flues
Also, in this example, the replacement window / door should also fully satisfy the requirements for energy conservation and ventilation for health
The Building Regulations may also apply to certain changes of use of an existing building. This is because the change of use may result in the building as a whole no longer complying with the requirements which will apply to its new type of use, and so having to be upgraded to meet additional requirements specified in the regulations for which building work may also be required.
What the regulations cover
The requirements with which building work should comply are contained in Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations and are grouped under the fourteen 'parts' below:
• Part A - Structure
• Part B - Fire safety
• Part C - Site preparation and resistance to moisture
• Part D - Toxic substances
• Part E - Resistance to the passage of sound
• Part F - Ventilation
• Part G - Hygiene
• Part H - Drainage and waste disposal
• Part J - Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems
• Part K - Protection from falling, collision and impact
• Part L - Conservation of fuel and power
• Part M - Access to and use of buildings
• Part N - Glazing - safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning
• Part P - Electrical safety
They set out the broad objectives or functions which the individual aspects of the building design and construction should set out to achieve. They are therefore often referred to as 'functional requirements' and are expressed in terms of what is 'reasonable', 'adequate', or 'appropriate'. Not all the functional requirements may apply to your building work, but all those which do apply should be complied with as part of the overall process of complying with the Building Regulations.
Government publishes guidance on ways of meeting these requirements in what are known as Approved Documents. The guidance in these documents does not have to be followed if you wish to satisfy the requirements in some other way, but it will be taken into account when your building control service is considering whether your plans of proposed work, or work in progress, are to be approved or not.
The following link will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more.
Buildings and building work exempt from Building Regulations
There are a number of classes of new buildings or extensions of existing buildings that do not need Building Regulations approval - subject to certain criteria on size, construction and position relative to boundaries being met. The following are examples of such buildings and extensions. Please note that they may require planning permission.
• garden sheds
• summer-houses
• domestic garages
• greenhouses
• conservatories
• porches
• covered way
• covered yards
• carports
1. What are the building regulations?
The building regulations are legal requirements that protect your health and safety when you are in and around buildings. The regulations also cover things like saving energy and making buildings suitable for disabled people.
Building regulations approval and planning permission are two separate things.

2. When do I need building regulations approval?

You will usually need building regulations approval if you or a previous owner have:
• put up a building;
• built an extension or made a room in the loft;
• made structural alterations, such as knocking down a chimney breast or making a through lounge;
• changed the use of a building, for example by converting it into flats; or
• put in, extended or changed the drainage, for example by putting in a new bathroom or a toilet under the stairs.
The regulations do not usually apply to porches, conservatories and carports. You will find more information about this in our leaflet 'Altering or extending your home?' which you can get from our offices.

3. What is the regularisation procedure?

This process lets you put in a backdated building regulations application if work has been done but no approval has been asked for. You can only use this procedure if the work has been done since 11 November 1985 when the regulations came into force.
Once we are happy that the work meets the regulations in force at the time, we will give you a regularisation certificate.

4. How do I make a regularisation application?
1. You must fill in a regularisation application form. If you have any plans of the work, please give us a copy.
2. Send the form to us with the right payment.
3. We will tell you when we have received the form.
4. If you pay cash, we can usually inspect the work within two working days. If you give us a cheque, we will ask that you contact us 10 days later to arrange for an inspection after the payment has cleared.
5. We will try to find out whether the work meets the regulations which were in force when the work was done. We will probably need you to uncover parts of the work so that we can see if it is good enough. But we will only ask you to do this if it is absolutely necessary. You or your builder may have to cause some damage and, if so, you will have to pay to repair it.
6. We will tell you if you need to do any work to meet the regulations. We will inspect any extra work you need to do until we are happy with it.
7. We will give you a regularisation certificate.
If at any time you decide not to go ahead with your application, please let us know. If the work has been finished for at least 12 months and any problems are not life-threatening, we will close our file. Unfortunately, we won't be able to refund any part of the charge you have paid.
ou hear about it, you see it on television - people who employ cowboy builders to work on their house and end up with a botched or uncompleted job that costs far more than they imagined, and which then takes thousands more to correct. But with some care you can avoid the nightmare of the cowboys in your house. It's worth remembering that 100,000 complaints are made every year in the U.K. against rogue builders.

How They Work
One common approach of the cowboy is to knock on your door, say he's "working in the area" and that your roof, drive (or something else) needs work. Without a thorough look he offers a low quote, and perhaps says he has material left over from another job that he can use. His vehicle will look unprofessional, he won't offer a specific schedule for the work. His only phone number will be a mobile, and he'll ask for payment before he begins - in cash, to avoid paying VAT.

If it's a big job, such as an extension, you might find that the work goes on and on, with each invoice sucking more from your bank account without much visible progress. By the time he leaves - or you finally give up - your house will probably look like a wreck.

How To Avoid Cowboy Builders

* Begin with a work specification. It can be anything from brief notes to architect's plans. Make certain your notes include who's responsible for removing all rubbish and making good after the work.
* Get recommendations from family and friends, or your architect (if you used one).
* Obtain at least three quotes (if it's on your mortgage, the lender will insist on three). Make sure each builder has a copy of your work specification and actually visits the site, and that their quotes cover the same things (site clearance, material supply, etc.)
* If one quote differs greatly from the others, discover why. There may be a legitimate reason for it, but investigate.
* Are they members of the Federation of Master Builders? Not being members doesn't make them disreputable, but membership adds a level of security.
* Are they registered with Trustmark? It's a government plan to help consumers find reliable tradespeople.
* Ask for several references in your area. Visit them, look at the work done, and ask about the experiences people had with the builder.
* Discuss payment. For most jobs, builders will require payment at varying stages of the work. Establish how much, when, and what the payments cover.
* Find out if the builder works on a "labour only" basis, i.e., you supply the materials. This is perfectly legitimate, but means you'll receive two quotes, one for materials, the other for labour.
* Check their insurance. It should be full public liability insurance, covering not only injuries to workmen, but also householders and guests, passers-by and property.
* For larger jobs, determine what guarantees the builder offers. If it's a new house, for example, it should be an NHBC warranty.
* Make sure there's a time scale for the work, including a completion date. But also be aware that outside factors, like weather, could affect that.
* Don't be afraid to let personal feelings enter into your judgment. If for some reason you simply don't like a particular builder, don't use him. After all, he'll be in your house for quite a while.
* Before any work begins, draw up a written agreement with the builder, covering all the major points, and include a 'retention,' meaning that the final payment occurs a month after completion, allowing you to discover any defects, and giving the builder the incentive to correct them.

What To Do If You're A Victim
In the event of a problem with a builder, you should initially try to resolve the problem between the two of you. In the event that doesn't work, there are steps you can take:

You can take the builder to County Court. If the amount is under £5000, it's a small claim, and can be dealt with quickly. For greater sums, consult an attorney.

Report the builder to the Trading Standards Administration. There has been talk that they, along with the Federation of Master Builders, will publish a "name and shame" list of cowboy tradesmen.

If your builder is a real cowboy, he might have already left the area, and finding him to take to court could be extremely difficult. Even if you obtain a County Court judgment, you can only get your money back if the builder has it. It's worth remembering, too, that it takes no special qualifications or certificates to be a builder. Legally, anyone can call himself a builder and charge for his work.

Your home is, quite rightly, your castle. The simplest way to avoid problems with it is to take time in the beginning and find the right contractor. A low quote might seem attractive, but you could be buying yourself trouble.