Planning permission vs building regulations: which approval does your project need?

What is the difference between planning permission and building regulations?

The Planning Portal puts it simply: planning rules determine whether you are allowed to go ahead with a building project, and building regulations set standards for its design and construction, to ensure the safety and health of people in and around the building. The first is about land use and appearance. The second is about structure, fire, insulation, drainage and similar technical matters.

Each has its own statute. Section 57 of the 1990 Act says planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land. Regulation 4 of the Building Regulations 2010 says building work must comply with the applicable requirements in Schedule 1, and that in complying with one there must be no failure to comply with another. Building work is defined in regulation 3 and includes the erection or extension of a building and the material alteration of one.

Planning practice guidance spells out the link. It says that even if a planning application is not needed, other consents may be required, and that permitted development rights do not override the requirement to comply with other permission, regulation or consent regimes. Our guide to permitted development rights covers the planning side of that.

Which building regulations routes can you use?

There are two. A full plans application is checked and, if it complies, you receive a notice stating that the plans are approved. Regulation 14A(6) of the Building Regulations 2010 requires a decision within five weeks of receipt, or within a longer period you agree in writing; the Planning Portal still describes the older five-weeks-or-two-months rule. A building notice is best suited to small work, and the Portal warns that you do not have the protection of an approval of full plans, so you need to be confident the work complies.

Regulation 12 sets out when you cannot use a building notice. Work that includes the erection of a building fronting a private street needs full plans. So does work where paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 imposes a requirement, which covers building over or close to sewers and drains, a common issue on London extensions. Electrical work under Part P has its own notice or competent-person rules.

The building control body can be the local authority or a private registered building control approver. GOV.UK says private businesses doing building control work in England must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator. The older title of approved inspector has been replaced in England by registered building control approver. Our page on building regulations drawings explains the pack either route needs.

Where do the two regimes meet?

More often than people expect. Regulation 4(1B) allows an optional requirement to apply when the planning permission under which the building work is carried out specifies it by reference to the Regulations and makes it a condition. In plain terms, a planning decision can write a building standard into your project.

In the other direction, a lawful development certificate under section 192 records that proposed operations would be lawful as a matter of planning. It says nothing about building regulations. The Planning Portal's guide to the two applications says the same of the permissions themselves: building regulations approval is different from planning permission although a project may need both. Our guide to lawful development certificates explains what that certificate does and does not cover.

Party wall matters sit in a third, separate regime under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, as our party wall surveying page explains. Planning permission and building regulations approval cover neither.

What proof do you hold at the end of each process?

For planning you hold a decision notice, or a lawful development certificate if you went that way. The usual condition is that development must begin within three years of the grant in England, unless the decision notice sets another period. Check the notice, because a longer or shorter period can be specified.

For building regulations you hold a completion certificate. Regulation 17 says the authority must give one where it is satisfied, after taking reasonable steps, that the relevant provisions have been complied with. Regulation 17(4) says it is evidence, but not conclusive evidence, of compliance. The Planning Portal adds that inspections are carried out only at certain stages and that if non-compliant work is not fixed, no completion certificate will be issued, which is likely to show up in a local land search when you sell.

What is the simplest way to settle planning permission vs building regulations?

Ask the two questions separately. Does the project need planning permission, and does the work need to meet the Building Regulations? In most London extension and loft projects the answers are no application for the first, if permitted development applies, and yes for the second. If you are unsure, send us the address and a short description. We check the constraints for free and tell you which approvals the project is likely to need.

Our planning application drawings service covers the planning side, and our building regulations drawings pack covers the construction side.