Building control - council or private?

[SRJDIY]

Hi all,

My partner and I are planning a side extension, and were going to get building control done through the local council. However, one of the builders we're gathering quotes from advised against this; apparently in his experience the council will require several visits to the site and will take a few days to get someone out for each one, holding up the building each time. The council have confirmed that they will require several visits at different stages.

My understanding is that we could get a private inspector to enforce building control, but that this would also involve multiple visits.

Is getting a private inspector likely to save any significant amount of time? And also, are they likely to be significantly more expensive than the council (the council are charging £570 for all inspections and paperwork). It's the first time we've done anything like this so would really appreciate any insight from anyone who's gone through the process!

 

[Notch7]

private Inspectors have to send in a notice to the local building control and as long as it’s not rejected, they are allowed to go ahead and undertake the building control process on behalf of the local authority.

Private inspectors can usually approve pland quickly and allow you to start within about 7 days.

Yes private inspectors have to do the same site inspections. The difference is that they are often faster at getting to do a site visit and in fact some council building inspectors won’t give out phone numbers so you have to ring the council and wait until they call back.

Some private b/c companies have masses of jobs, upto 300 live jobs per inspector and the inspectors spend hardly any time on any one job + they sometimes accept photographs if they can’t make it to site.

There is a concern private inspectors may be more lax, I don’t have enough experience to know.


There is slight risk of private b/c companies going bust leaving clients in limbo.


Experienced building contractors may prefer private B/C because they get to know the same inspectors whereas through the LA they may have different inspectors depending on location if it’s a different council.

Some builders may prefer private b/c as they may be more easy going and get away with more….but I’m not sure if this is true or not

 

[noseall]

Hi all,

My partner and I are planning a side extension, and were going to get building control done through the local council. However, one of the builders we're gathering quotes from advised against this; apparently in his experience the council will require several visits to the site and will take a few days to get someone out for each one, holding up the building each time.

Nonsense. It makes little difference. I find LABC are more helpful.

 

[johnny2007]

Definitely go with Council BC.
I had nightmare times with private inspectors passing stuff that wasn't fit to be classed as a shed.
Of course your builder wants his mate to inspect his work.
In my experience Council Building Inspectors come out within 24 hours and are a great source of advice and workaround when the unexpected happens.
I have fixed (and on one occasion demolished) extensions which were passed by private BC but were clearly bodged to the bones.
Go with local authority.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yes private inspectors have to do the same site inspections. The difference is that they are often faster at getting to do a site visit and in fact some council building inspectors won’t give out phone numbers so you have to ring the council and wait until they call back.

Down this neck of the woods we have the mobile numbers of all our LA BCO's.

 

[mrrusty]

There is a concern private inspectors may be more lax, I don’t have enough experience to know.

I've never used a private BC for my very few projects, however the house next door was recently completely refurbished and extended using a private BCO. I got friendly with the developer, so saw a lot of the detail of the work as it progressed. I never commented on anything (not my business), but I know for a fact that several things were done that should never have passed building control; bodged is the correct word...

OK it's anecdotal on the evidence of one occurrence, so you pays your money.......

 

[^woody^]

That builder is chatting crap.
It's next day inspections if you book, same day if you are lucky and phone up on the off-chance.

He probably wants you to use his "recommended" mate, who will sign off his sub-standard work.

The inspector's job is to visit site several times. How someone could portray that as a negative should ring alarm bells.

 

[nickjb]

Same experience as mrrusty. Neighbour"s builder used a private inspector and got away with all sorts of things that really shouldn't have passed.
As a builder I can see the benefit of going private, as a homeowner I'd use the council.

 

[Notch7]

Down this neck of the woods we have the mobile numbers of all our LA BCO's.

That’s certainly not the case around Sussex / Surrey / Kent at least in my limited experience.