Who are Building Control Services?
We are part of the Development Department and provide Building Regulation Services to the people who live in Leeds.
Over the years, we have developed a customer focused approach and see ourselves as a member of the construction team rather than a control service.
Building Standard's main purpose is to provide a Building Regulations service which includes advice, support, plan checking and site inspections. These are all intended to help you comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations and associated legislation.
With this in mind we offer pre application advice to help sort out problems before they arise. This service is particularly suited to larger projects but it could still be appropriate for some smaller works.
Charges
Local Authorities have now been given the power to set their own charges for their building regulation functions. The Leeds Scheme of Charges came into force on April 1st 1999, and remains in force until further notice.
In Leeds, the charges are set following 'best value' principles which recognise that they should reflect the cost of undertaking the work, and that the service which you receive in return is clearly set out. To achieve this, the Leeds Scheme of Charges gives reductions for repeated and repetitive work where our costs of examining the plans etc. are reduced.
In addition, for the larger commercial schemes the charges only relate to the estimated cost of those elements of the work which are subject to control under the regulations. The service you will receive in return for the charge is set out below.
In order to find out how this might affect your scheme, and to discuss the Leeds Charges you are invited to give us a ring on Leeds 247 8097.
Level of Service
This section identifies the level of service you can expect to receive when using Leeds City Council's Building Regulation Services. Building Regulations exist to secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of building users and to conserve the use of energy in buildings. In choosing Leeds City Council as your service provider, you are choosing a professional, independent, non profit making organisation that delivers a level of service that is designed to ensure that your building works meet the building regulation requirements for the benefit of you, your building users and the community at large.
Value for Money
Value for money is related to the level of service you can expect to receive and the way this can help you to complete your project on time in the knowledge that building regulations and other statutory requirements have been satisfied. Leeds City Council are committed to providing the best possible value for money in return for the building regulation charges by delivering a service that is local, accountable, independent of any commercial interests and responsive to the needs of the customer. We will do this by
- entering into early discussion and informal consultations prior to your application. This can provide substantial benefits by the early agreement of basic design and fire engineering principles
- asking for a commitment to use our services and then giving full support and advice to your project design team. This will include full consultations with other agencies
- supporting LANTAC and other national initiatives which are only available through Local Authority providers
- providing a best value service. Today's best value climate is all about partnerships between Local Authorities and the private sector. Using our services gives you the opportunity to tap into the wealth of experience and local knowledge that we have build up, which is not driven by or influenced by the profit motive We believe that our commitment to providing a responsive, independent and accountable building regulation service achieves a standard of value for money that cannot be equalled by any other service provider.
We believe that our commitment to providing a responsive, independent and accountable building regulation service achieves a standard of value for money that cannot be equalled by any other service provider.
Delivery of Service
In return for the building regulation charge or a commitment to use our services we will:
- participate in pre deposit design meetings and consultations
- give all plans an initial appraisal within three days to identify any major problems or issues and generate any necessary consultations
- approve plans which do not need any amendments at this stage (This currently amounts to about 30% of all plans.)
- get back to you within two weeks (three for major projects) to let you know where we are with your project and what, if any additional information is needed
- be responsive to any special time constraints that you may have to meet for your project
- monitor our performance against a broad range of indicators and targets and make the performance report available to our customers
- provide a same day inspection service for all inspections which are requested prior to 10.00 am or later by arrangement
- inspect in person at all major stages of each development and never use 'remote' inspection techniques
- give a completion certificate for all completed developments
We believe that we provide a quality service which will meet your needs and helps, not hinders, the development process.
Enforcement
Leeds City Council is the only body that has the power of enforcement for building regulation matters in Leeds. We take this role seriously and we are committed to good enforcement policies and procedures. We will do this by:
- setting clear standards for our service delivery and reporting on our performance against them
- providing clear advice and information about the building regulations and associated legislation and discuss any general issues or specific compliance problems with anyone experiencing difficulties
- believing that prevention is better than cure and working with business and the community to advise on and assist with compliance
- providing a courteous and efficient service identifying our staff by name and providing a contact point for all further dealings with us
- providing a timely and rigorous complaints procedure, accessible to all customers who may have a problem with our service with full rights of appeal and guaranteed response times
- working with customers to minimise the cost of compliance where possible
- carrying out our duties in a fair, equitable, accountable and consistent manner
- seeking to resolve any issues without the need for formal action
- support and follow the principles in the Enforcement Concordat
We believe that building regulations should be enforced in a fair and reasonable manner and should not be an unnecessary burden on the community or business