East Cambridgeshire District Council

LABC is the member organisation representing Local Authority Building Control departments in England and Wales. The membership includes over 3,000 professional surveyors and support technicians throughout 12 regions.

Unlike Planning Applications there is no general public right to inspect plans deposited under the Building Regulations. However, as the owner of a property we do allow you (or your agent) to examine previously submitted plans where, for example, you are doing so in order to help prepare an application under the Building Regulations.

Copies of Building Regulations Decisions Notices and Completion Certificates 

East Cambs Building Control service provides an effective and professional service that is also excellent value for money.

Our responsibilities include:

The Regulations require that the person for whom the work is being carried out shall give the Local Authority notice of certain stages of work.The relevant stages (where applicable) are as follows :

Competent Persons Schemes

The rationale behind the schemes is to authorise, on the basis of risk to health and safety, schemes whose members are adjudged sufficiently competent in their work to self-certify that their work has been carried out in compliance with all applicable requirements of the Building Regulations.

Regularisation Certificates may be used to obtain approval for work that has been carried out since 11th November 1985 and was not subject to a Building Regulations Application at the time.

This situation can become apparent when the property is being sold and the omission is discovered during a Solicitor's enquiry. Upon request, we inspect the property and, at our discretion some areas of the work may have to be altered to meet the Regulations.

There is a vast array of information relating to Building Regulations and construction available on the Internet. Below are just a few links to various websites used by the Building Control team that we hope you will find useful.

If you are a company/organisation offering free advice and would like to have a link to your website considered for inclusion on this page, please email us with your details.

The Party Wall Act

If you are intending to carry out work on, or within, close proximity to your neighbour’s boundary or party walls, you will most likely have duties and obligations under the Party Wall Act.

This is designed to resolve disputes, which may arise between neighbours when building work is carried out. The basic requirement of the Act is that you notify your neighbour of the intended work.

I am concerned that a building/structure nearby is unsafe, who do I report it to?

You need to contact Building Control who will deal with the problem.

If you wish to speak to someone urgently you can telephone our emergency out-of-hours number: 07710 978900.

DEMOLITIONS

Owners wishing to demolish a building must give notice to the Council under Section 80 of the Building Act 1984. The authority has a duty to respond within 6 weeks of receipt of notice however we endeavour to respond within 14 days with a notification detailing actions that the owner will need to carry out, such as shoring up adjacent buildings and clearing the site. The following information provides a comprehensive guide to what action is required relating to demolition works: