Building control required? Knock-through non-structural wall, etc

[jwl83]

I've recently moved into a house that I'm intending to have work done to. I'm trying to understand if any of the possible work I may do requires building control approval. I'm looking to:

• Knock-through a non-structural wall dividing a box room from the master bedroom (we've engaged a structural engineer who has determined the wall is not load-bearing).
• Board up an internal door and make an opening for a door at a different position on the wall.
• Build up a short section of partition wall.
• Replace existing doors with new doors.
• Change open tread staircase, block in gaps with risers.

Which of the above is likely to require building control involvement? The knock-through seems the most likely, but I've read conflicting advice online that in case of a non-structural wall, building control may not need to be involved?

 

[^woody^]

It's not just the structural aspect, but whether the work impacts on fire safety (fire spread and means of escape), and you should not make the current situation any worse.

 

[jwl83]

It's not just the structural aspect, but whether the work impacts on fire safety (fire spread and means of escape), and you should not make the current situation any worse.

Hi Woody. I understand that. I'm not planning to open up any spaces to "open plan" or change use of any spaces. Our house is a 1960s townhouse which (like most 1960s builds) does not meet today's building regulations. Much of the changes - like filling in the stair risers and constructing a partition wall (which will replace an unsafe glass partition next to the stairs) should get us closer to today's building regulations than the current situation.

I'm interested to understand how people practically deal with this? As I say, I understand that a load-bearing change would definitely require building control approval, but much of what I read online infers that non-structural walls may not require building control approval.

 

[^woody^]

It's not about making things open plan, but the structural purpose of a wall is not the only thing to consider when proposing to remove or alter it.

Working on a non-load-bearing wall will not involve building control for the structural aspect, but it may for other things. And that is not something that a structural engineer will consider as it's normally outside of their expertise. They may well say "Yeah you can remove the wall its not structural", but that's the right answer to the wrong question.

When you say "townhouse" that implies a three-storey. If so, even greater fire safety requirements apply.