Guidance

Building work, replacements and repairs to your home

Updated 3 November 2014

Applies to England

1. Introduction

The Building Regulations are designed to ensure new buildings meet health, safety, welfare, convenience and sustainability standards. They relate to the specifics of how a building should be constructed unlike planning permission which is about the principle of whether development should go ahead or not.

Many jobs in the home need to be notified to and approved as being compliant with Building Regulations by a Building Control Body, either your Local Authority Building Control or a private sector Approved Inspector, unless carried out by installers registered with a Competent Person Scheme who can self certify that their work is compliant.

Some examples of notifiable work (not a complete list) are shown below. Those marked * may not need to be notified in certain circumstances.

• new bathroom installations
• new or replacement boilers
• electrical work around baths and showers
• replacement windows or doors
• replacement roof
• cavity and solid wall insulation
• extensions to central heating systems*
• installing electricity to a shed*

2. What will happen if I do not comply with the Building Regulations?

• If you do not comply the work will not be legal. You could be prosecuted and could face unlimited fines.

• The work may not be safe, could cause health problems, injury or even death. It may also not meet energy efficiency standards.

• If work is found to be faulty your local authority could insist you put it right at your own expense.

• If the work has not been notified to a Building Control Body or carried out by a Competent Person Scheme registered installer the local authority will have no record that the work complies with Building Regulations. These records will be important when you come to sell your home as you may be asked to provide certificates of compliance with the Building Regulations.

3. Why should I use an installer who is registered with a Competent Person Scheme?

• An installer registered with a Competent Person Scheme is qualified to carry out specific types of work in accordance with Building Regulations and should both notify the local authority of the work and issue you a certificate of compliance with Building Regulations either directly or through their scheme operator. If you do not receive a certificate within 30 days of completion contact the Competent Person Scheme operator that your installer is registered with and they may be able to help you resolve this.

• If you do not use an installer registered with a Competent Person Scheme then you will have to submit a building notice or full plans application and pay a fee to have a Building Control Body come and inspect the work you have carried out.

• You will be given financial protection to cover the event of non-compliant work being found where the installation company has gone out of business.

4. How can I find an installer registered with a Competent Person Scheme in my area or check that my chosen installer is with a scheme?

Visit www.competentperson.co.uk or for electrical work you can visit www.electricalcompetentperson.co.uk and enter your postcode or the name of the installer in the relevant search box. Competent Person Scheme operator contact details and the types of work each operator covers are at the end of this booklet.

5. How to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations

Plain text version of the flowchart

Who is going to do the work?

• Me, a friend or relative.

Does a Building Control Body need to know about the work?

• If yes, contact a Building Control Body before starting the work.
• If no, go ahead with the work. You do not need to contact a Building Control Body.

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Who is going to do the work?

• A contractor or an installer.

Does a Building Control Body need to know about the work?

• If yes, is the installer registered with a relevant Competent Person Scheme?
  • If yes, the installer will look after all the Building Regulations for you. You do not need to contact a Building Control Body. Once work is complete you should receive a certificate of compliance within 30 days.
  • If no, contact a Building Control Body before starting the work.
• If no, go ahead with the work. You do not need to contact a Building Control Body.

6. Examples of work you need do or do not need to notify to a Building Control Body

Please see below for examples of work that you do or do not need to notify to a Building Control Body before starting. Please note that these lists are not complete and there will be other work not listed here that you will need to notify. If you are in any doubt you should contact a Building Control Body for advice.

Some examples of work that you do need to tell a Building Control Body about unless you use an installer who is registered with a Competent Person Scheme

• installation of a new or replacement heating system or boiler, regardless of fuel type
• installation of a new or replacement oil tank
• installation of a bathroom if new plumbing is installed or existing plumbing is altered
• installation of a fixed air conditioning system
• addition of a radiator to an existing heating system (may not need notifying in some circumstances)
• installation of a new or replacement fuse box (or consumer unit) or any new electrical circuit connected to the fuse box, and alterations to electrical installations around a bath or shower
• replacement of window and door units
• replacement of roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs

Some examples of work that you do not need to tell a Building Control Body about but you can still use a Competent Person Scheme registered installer

• most repairs, replacements and maintenance work (except replacements of combustion appliances, oil tanks, electrical fuse boxes or glazing units, which do need to be notified)
• additional power points or lighting points or any other alterations to existing electrical circuits (except around baths and showers)
• like-for-like replacements of baths, toilets, basins or sinks

7. List of the types of work covered by Competent Person Schemes

Installation of cavity wall insulation:

Blue Flame, Certass, Certsure, CIGA, NAPIT, STROMA

Installation of solid wall insulation:

BBA (including hybrid), Blue Flame (including hybrid), CERTASS, Certsure (including hybrid), NAPIT (including hybrid), STROMA

Installation of gas appliances:

Gas Safe Register

Installation or replacement of hot water and heating systems:

APHC, Benchmark, BESCA, Blue Flame, Certsure, Gas Safe Register, HETAS, NAPIT, OFTEC, and STROMA

Installation or replacement of oil-fired boilers and storage tanks:

APHC, Benchmark, BESCA, Blue Flame, Certsure, NAPIT, OFTEC, STROMA

Installation or replacement of solid fuel burners:

APHC, BESCA, Certsure, HETAS, NAPIT, OFTEC, STROMA

Installation of fixed air conditioning or mechanical ventilation systems in dwellings:

BESCA, Blue Flame, Certsure, NAPIT, STROMA

Any electrical installation work in dwellings:

Benchmark, BESCA, Blue Flame, BSI, Certsure, NAPIT, OFTEC, STROMA

Electrical installation work only in association with other work in dwellings (eg kitchen installations, boiler installations):

APHC, Benchmark, BESCA, Blue Flame, Certsure, NAPIT, STROMA

Replacement windows, doors, roof windows, or roof lights in dwellings:

ASSURE, Blue Flame, BM TRADA, BSI, CERTASS, Certsure, FENSA, NAPIT, STROMA

Installation of plumbing and water supply systems and bathrooms and sanitary ware:

APHC, Benchmark, BESCA, Certsure, HETAS, NAPIT, STROMA (except for wholesome cold water supplies)

Replacement of roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs (not including solar panels):

CompetentRoofer, NAPIT

Installation of microgeneration or renewable technologies:

APHC, Benchmark, BESCA, BRE, Certsure, HETAS, NAPIT, OFTEC, STROMA

8. Contact details for Competent Persons Schemes

These schemes are listed alphabetically. This does not reflect the size of the scheme or whether the scheme specialises in dealing with a particular type of work.

Visit www.competentperson.co.uk to see if there are members in your local area who undertake the type of work that you are interested in. If you want electrical work done then you can also visit www.electricalcompetentperson.co.uk to search for members.

Scheme full name	Short name	Contact number
Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (Certification) Limited	APHC	0121 7115030
Blue Flame Certification Limited	Blue Flame Certification	0845 194 90 31
BM Trada Certification Limited	BM Trada	01494 569700
British Board of Agrément	BBA	01923 665386
Building Engineering Services Competence Assessment Limited	BESCA	0800 652 5533
Capita Gas Registration and Ancillary Services Limited	Gas Safe Register (GSR)	0800 408 5500
Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency Limited	CIGA	01525 853 300
Certass Limited	Certass	01292 292099
Certsure LLP trading as ELECSA or NICEIC	Certsure	0333 321 8220 or 01582 531000
Fensa Limited	FENSA	020 7645 3700
HETAS Limited	HETAS	01684 278170
NAPIT Registration Limited	NAPIT*	0345 5430330
National Federation of Roofing Contractors Limited	CompetentRoofer	0207 448 3189
Network VEKA Limited	ASSURE	01282 473170
Oil Firing Technical Association Limited	OFTEC	0845 6585080
Stroma Certification Limited	STROMA	0845 621 1111

*Benchmark Certification Limited ceased to operate as a competent person scheme from 10 February 2017 and became part of NAPIT Registration Limited on that date.

Some registered installers also carry out work under the Green Deal, are members of the TrustMark scheme or the Microgeneration Certification Scheme all of which give further consumer protection.

If you wish to have your building control undertaken by your Local Authority Building Control Body contact your local authority.

If you wish to have your building control undertaken by an Approved Inspector you can find a register of them on the Construction Industry Council website.