Planning, building control and party walls: who does what

Clients often talk about planning, building control and party walls as if they were one thing. They are three separate processes, run by different people, and a project can need any combination of them. Getting the order right saves weeks.

Planning permission

Planning decides whether you can build it at all: the size, the height, the appearance and the effect on neighbours. Many single storey rear extensions fall under permitted development, but not all, and the rules are stricter for flats, listed buildings and conservation areas. On design and build jobs Tom prepares and submits the application, and we price the drawings before it goes in, so you know the number before you know the decision.

Building control

Building control checks that the work meets the Building Regulations: structure, fire safety, insulation, drainage and ventilation. An inspector visits at set stages, typically the foundations, the drains, the structure and the finished job. We book those visits, they appear in your Friday report as they happen, and you receive the completion certificate at handover. Keep it: you will need it when you sell.

Party wall agreements

If you build on or close to a shared wall, or dig near a neighbour’s foundations, the Party Wall Act usually applies. Your neighbours must be given notice, and if they do not consent a surveyor is appointed to agree an award. On Marlborough Road we served notice on both neighbours in the week the drawings were fixed.

• Serve notice as early as the drawings allow: notice periods run for weeks

• Talk to the neighbours before the letter arrives

• Budget for surveyor fees in the fixed price, not as a surprise

“Talk to the neighbours before the letter arrives. It saves more time than any form.”

In what order

Planning comes first, because without it there is nothing to build. Party wall notices go out as soon as the drawings are fixed. Building control runs alongside the build itself. If your project only needs building control, you can often start sooner, and Jess will tell you at the site visit which of the three apply to your house.

On a typical rear extension the sequence looks like this. Drawings and a fixed price take about three weeks. A householder planning application takes around eight weeks to decide, and party wall notices run in parallel once the drawings are fixed. Building control is applied for before we start and inspects as we go. Most of our extensions start on site ten to twelve weeks after the first visit, and the Friday reports begin on day one.

Rules change, and every site is different, so treat this as a starting point and check the current position for your own house before you rely on it.

None of this needs to be your job. At the site visit Jess tells you which permissions apply, the fixed price lists the fees, and the Friday report shows each notice, decision and inspection as it lands, so you always know what is waiting and on whom.