QUICK GUIDE BUILDING CONTROL BODIES

There are two types of organisation that can help you to ensure that your house complies with the Regulations. The most established are local authority building control officers (BCOS). They work for the council, not you or your builder, and their job is to check that the regulations are applied to every relevant aspect of the construction. Since 1985, approved inspectors (AIS) have done essentially the same job, but these are private organisations appointed to provide a professional service for your personal project.

As the law currently stands, it is almost impossible to sue a building control department if they miss significant failures to meet the regs. This is because you don’t have a contract with them: they are providing a service as part of the council’s duties to the community. By contrast, you could hold AIS directly liable for any misjudgement that they might have made, as they are one of your own personal team of consultants.

BCOS can be helpful and a good source of practical advice, but their hands are tied to a certain extent by the rules and procedures set by their local authority. The benefits of using AIS are that they are more flexible, more ready to volunteer advice during the early stages of the design and can cut through the red tape when the occasion demands. They also often have links with structural warranty providers, which can allow you to tie up inspections for building control and warranty purposes in one package – potentially offering better value for money.