Building regulations are minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. The regulations are developed by the UK government and approved by Parliament. Homeowners are legally responsible for ensuring structural or alteration work complies with building standards. You can delegate responsibility to your builder or contractor in advance of them starting work. But, you are ultimately responsible for ensuring your property complies with relevant building standards. A large proposition of Automist installations are to help homes meet building regulations, whilst the rest tend to be driven by the RRFSO or an elective fire safety upgrade and do not require sign-off from building control.
There are two main sources of approval for you (or your contractor) to consider:
- Local Authority Building Control (LABC).
- Private building control bodies - Approved Inspectors advise you on how the regulations will apply. They check plans, notify a local authority of intended work (via an ‘Initial Notice’), inspect the work as it progresses and issues the final certificate. Our customers recommend Assent Building Control.
If the local authority rejects your initial application, you can amend your existing plans. This is the smoothest and quickest option. A fire engineer can help you present your case as a fire-engineered solution to building control. They can give you a report detailing the necessary steps to take to gain approval. Need help? Contact a fire engineer familiar with Automist. We commissioned an independent fire engineering investigation into the suitability of Automist to meet the building regulations requirements for open plan dwellings, which you can show your surveyor. Building control will usually sign off a project if a fire engineer has fully assessed the property and the necessary fire protection measures are in place. Once the building work is complete, you should obtain a completion certificate.
We have completed over 10000 installations up and down the UK to help homes meet building regulations.