Building regulations set minimum standards for the design and construction of buildings to ensure the safety and health for people in or around the building. They also include requirements to ensure that the fuel and power are conserved and facilities are provided for people, including those with disabilities, to access and move around inside the building. Meeting the requirements of the building regulations is the responsibility of the person carrying out the building work and if they are not the same person, the owner of the building. The following types of project examples amount to building work and will need building regulations approval; the erection or extension of a building, an alteration involving work which will temporarily or permanently affect the ongoing compliance of the building, service or fitting with the requirements relating to structure, fire access to and use of buildings, installing replacement windows using a builder or window company which is not FENSA registered, installation extension of a service which is controlled under the regulations insertion of insulation into a cavity wall underpinning the foundations of a building, when you want to change the building’s fundamental use renovation of a thermal element change of a building’s energy status. If your building work consists only of the installation of certain types of services or fittings, for example, some types of drainage, fuel-burning appliances, replacement windows, WCs, electrical installations and showers you can employ an installer who is registered to self-certify the work. There are a set of approved documents on the government website that will help you meet the criteria needed for building regulations. We will give helpful guidance on these set of approved documents in our future blogs. If you require any assistance with building regulations please feel free to contact Ashleigh Clarke Architects.
