Building regulations - Appeals and Contraventions
Information and guidance on Building Regulations appeals and contravention procedure
Appeals
You may appeal to Communities & Local Government against a decision of the Council to:-
- reject plans;
- refuse to grant an application for Relaxation of Building Regulations;
- add a condition to the grant of an application for Relaxation;
- serve a contravention notice in respect of defective work.
In respect of (1), (2) and (3) above, an appeal must be lodged with Communities & Local Government within 56 days of the date of notification of the decision. With respect to (4), contravention notices, more information is given in the next section.
Contravention of Building Regulations
Contravention of Building Regulations can generally be categorised as follows:-
- failure to deposit plans before commencing building works;
- failure by the builder to give the required notice at specified stages of the work;
- failure to comply with the requirements of the Regulations in carrying out building work on site.
The Council has legal powers to deal with each type of contravention. Building Surveyors will seek co-operation in eliminating a contravention but failing this legal action will be taken. Legal action, however, is usually taken only as a last resort, after all other avenues of resolving a contravention have been exhausted.
Where the building work does not comply with the Regulation, as mentioned above, the Council is empowered to serve a Building Regulations Contravention Notice. The Notice will specify the contravention and the period of time, normally 28 days, within which work must be made good, altered or removed.
On receipt of a Contravention Notice there are four courses of action open, viz.:
- Compliance with the Notice - this will involve making good or removing the defective work.
- Challenging the Notice - this will involve obtaining a report from a suitably qualified person setting out reasons why the Notice should not have been served. The report is submitted to the Council; if the Council refuses to accept it there is a right of appeal to the Communities & Local Government
- Appealing to the DOE - this is a direct appeal to the Communities & Local Government against the service of the Notice.
- Applying for Relaxation of the Regulations which had been contravened - the application will normally be to the Council in the first instance; if the Council refuses the application there is a right of appeal to the Communities & Local Government.
If you are in any doubt please don't hesitate to contact us.
Contact Details
For more information about Building regulations please contact Building Control
Telephone: 0121 704 6398
Fax: 0121 704 8372
Planning Services
PO Box 11652
Solihull
West Midlands
B91 3YA
Email: BuildingControl@solihull.gov.uk