Yes. Planning and building regs are separate. PD removes the planning requirement only — building regs always apply to structural and habitable space changes.
Yes. Planning permission and building regulations are separate regimes with separate bodies, separate applications and separate fees. Planning governs what you may build; building control governs how it must be built. Almost all structural, drainage, energy and fire-related work is notifiable regardless of whether planning was needed.
Both are administered by the council, often in the same building, and both involve drawings. But the planning officer never checks a beam size and the building control surveyor never comments on whether an extension is too deep for the neighbour. A permitted development extension needing no planning application still needs full building control.
A full plans application submits the drawings and calculations for checking before work starts, and must be decided within five weeks, extendable to two months by agreement. You get a written approval to build to and to sell against.
A building notice gives 48 hours' notice with no plan check and the work is judged on site. It is faster to start and looks cheaper, but it carries the whole risk of a wrong detail being found after it is built.
Excavation, foundation concrete, damp-proof course and oversite, drains laid and drains tested, floor and roof structure, insulation, and completion. Covering up work before inspection is the usual cause of opening up later.
A completion certificate from the council, or a final certificate from a registered building control approver. Without it a conveyancing solicitor will raise the absence on sale, and a buyer's lender may require indemnity insurance or a regularisation application.
A worked Waltham Forest example of do i need building regulations even if i have planning?: with 17 conservation areas — the Walthamstow Village Conservation Area and the Lloyd Park Conservation Area among the best known — London Borough of Waltham Forest (Waltham Forest Council) sees do i need building regulations even if i have planning? constantly, and an Article 4 direction is in force there, so permitted development cannot be assumed. Where do i need building regulations even if i have planning? pushes a Waltham Forest scheme out of permitted development, the route becomes a £548 application decided in 8 weeks rather than a £249 prior approval in 6 weeks. is governed by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the GPDO 2015 and the Building Regulations 2010.
| Planning and building control | Separate regimes |
|---|---|
| Full plans decision | 5 weeks, extendable to 2 months |
| Building notice | 48 hours |
| Typical London charge | £500–£1,200 |
| Output | Completion or final certificate |
| Retrospective route | Regularisation application |
No. The two are entirely independent.
Yes — a registered building control approver has the same legal standing as the council.
A regularisation application is the route, though it usually means opening up.
Pick a slot that suits you. No obligation and no sales pressure, just straight answers on your planning route.
