Charnwood Borough Council - Leading in Leicestershire

This consists of detailed plans being drawn up and submitted to the Council by the owner of the work or by his or her agent. Included with the plans should be:

1. a Site Location Plan (available on request from Building Control for a small charge)

2. a completed Full Plans Application Form (Full Plans Application Form and Full Plans Check List available at Downloads)

3. an appropriate payment (details available at Building Control Charges)

This method of obtaining consent is available for all types of building work to which the regulations apply, PROVIDED THAT THE WORK HAS NOT ALREADY STARTED (see What if I have not followed the rules?). There is no requirement on who can draw up the plans, although it should be appreciated that the plans will need to be of a sufficient standard that will show that the technical requirements of the Building Regulations will be satisfied. It is strongly recommended therefore that a person experienced in this regard is employed.

Once submitted, the plans will be assessed by the Council's Building Control Surveyor for compliance of the work with the Building Regulations. Correspondence will then take place with the submitter in order to negotiate over any shortcomings. Within 5 weeks of the application being submitted in an acceptable format, or within 8 weeks by mutual consent, the application will either be:

1. Approved, if the plans show that the work will comply with all requirements of the Building Regulations; or

2. Approved subject to conditions, if the plans show that in the main the work will comply with all requirements of the Building Regulations but that certain other detailed information is required before a full approval can be given; or

3. Rejected, if the plans do not show that all requirements of the Building Regulations will be satisfied.

The advantage of obtaining Building Regulations consent using the Full Plans Method is that once the plans are approved, they serve as a guarantee that the building work you will be undertaking will comply with the Building Regulations. It is for this reason that you are strongly advised not to commence the work until the plans have been passed. In the event that the plans have been approved with conditions or rejected, the outstanding information should be provided or, respectively, the defects corrected and the plans re-submitted, before the work on site starts.