A Pre-Application Enquiry will provide you with information that is needed to help you through the approval and building process.  As Building Regulations become more detailed and complex, early professional and co-ordinated input is important to avoid costly late design changes.  Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council's Building Control Department recognises the value of pre-application advice as it allows them to advise applicants and/or agents early in the development cycle which facilitates the efficient handling of any subsequent application.  This consultation may help to:

• Reduce project costs
• Avoid delay
• Create awareness of building constraints
• Provide for flexibility in design

With effect from 1st February 2019, a formalised Pre-Application Enquiry service has been introduced.  This service is still free of charge, however, to ensure that proper evaluation and robust feedback can be given, a certain amount of information, together with the appropriate Pre-Application Enquiry form should be submitted (see below).  Primarily advice will be given on Part E and Part R of the Building Regulations (NI) 2012, however there is an opportunity to request advice on any Part of the Regulations, if necessary.

The form includes a checklist of information that should be submitted but please note this is not necessarily exhaustive and the level of information submitted should be proportionate with the scale of the development that you are proposing as the quality of the service we provide is dependent on this. 

A Building Control Officer within the Building Control Department will be allocated to your submission and they will endeavour to provide you with a written response within 21 working days.  Please be advised that this is at the sole discretion of the Council’s workload and staffing levels at any given time.

• Pre-Application Enquiry Form

A full plans application form must be submitted together with either two copies (domestic) or four copies (non-domestic) of full construction drawings/specification and the appropriate plan fee; the fee is paid in two parts and the inspection fee will be invoiced when the work starts.

After validation of plans the application will be assessed within 21 days (domestic properties) or 35 days (other properties) and a decision will be reached.  If your application is APPROVED you, or your agent will be sent an ‘approval certificate’ and a stamped approved copy of your plans.  Often, due to lack of information/detail, design problems, fire safety or other issues an approval cannot be considered and the application will be rejected.  If your application is REJECTED you, or your agent, will be sent a ‘notice of rejection’. The notice will list the reasons for rejecting your application which, if fully addressed on amended plans within the given timeframe, will then be approved.  If you have any concerns or issues with the rejection you will have the right of appeal.

• Full Plans application form 

Building Notices are most suitable for small, specific domestic building work, such as heating installations, structural alterations and extensions <10m². 

A building notice application form must be submitted together with the appropriate fee.  The fee must be paid when you make the application. Drawings are not required to be submitted however additional information may be requested depending on the complexity of the work.  Any information you provide is not formally assessed therefore a notice of approval will not be issued however an acknowledgement certificate will be issued indicating that we have received the application and details of how Council should be notified at certain stages of work.

• Building Notice application form
• Apply Online via Council Direct

This application is used when work that has already been carried out to a property but an application for Building Regulations approval was not made.

The fee for a regularisation certificate is 20% more than the fee would be today if you applied for approval for the work before it was started.  Work will be inspected to ensure it meets the building regulations current at the time it was carried out. If satisfactory a regularisation certificate will be issued.  

• Regularisation Certificate application form
• Apply Online via Council Direct

Building Control Fees Calculator

Work can start as soon as you have made a valid application but you have a legal responsibility to notify the Building Control Department at least 48 hours before work is due to commence and at various stages during the works.  Building control officers will carry out statutory inspections at certain stages of building work, following notification, to ensure that the work complies with the requirements of building regulations.  However, the role of the Building Control Officer is not to act as designer or site agent.  They may also serve a contravention notice where they discover work that does not comply with the regulations

If you have made a full plans application, getting approval before starting work is advisable as it will give you some protection against having to make any costly amendments on-site.

When a building is completed, all fees are paid and the Council have been able to ascertain, after taking all reasonable steps in that behalf, that relevant requirements of building regulations have been satisfied, the Council shall issue a Completion Certificate.  This shall be evidence (but not conclusive evidence) that the relevant requirements specified in the certificate have been complied with

If work is carried out without an application having been made you may be prosecuted. Furthermore, should you wish to sell your property the purchaser's solicitor will wish to see evidence of approval. If these are not available it may delay or prevent the sale.

Your proposed works may also require permission from Council's Planning Department.

If your house is listed then permission to carry out any sort of alteration should be obtained by contacting the Historic Monuments and Buildings branch of the Department of the Environment in Belfast. Tel: (028) 9023 5000.