Advantages and disadvantages of a Building Notice application

Advantages

With this type of application you are only required to submit an application form, a location plan (if an extension is involved) and the appropriate fee.

The services of a designer are not essential but certain details may be requested at a later stage.

Once the application has been submitted you need only wait 48 hours before starting the work, avoiding any time delays inherent in the Full Plans Application.

Disadvantages

As no plan is needed you will obviously never receive the protection and reassurance that an approved notice would give you.

The whole process of making sure your work complies with the Building Regulations is carried out at the site inspection stage. This has one major disadvantage: if a problem is found it will usually be after work has been carried out and therefore involve a degree of remedial work.

With the Building Notice application you are effectively taking the whole risk of making sure the work complies with the Building Regulations on your own shoulders.

You need to be very sure that you or your builder is familiar with all the relevant regulations and you will need to prove that the works comply when the Building Control Officer visits the site.

Whilst perhaps not strictly a Building Control issue, the existence of a plan can form the basis of a contractual agreement between you and your builder and hopefully avoid any fundamental disputes at a later date.

When submitting the Building Notice the total fee for the work has to be paid when the application is submitted.

There can be a high risk factor with this type of application and it would be perhaps more suitable for simpler projects.