Building control enquiries

Requests for information – Islington Council Building Service

Building Control records are not public records which mean there is no public right to view or obtain information submitted under the Building Regulations. However, the owner of a property or a solicitor acting in the sale of the property can request to view plans or obtain a copy of completion certificates and decision notices as per guidance below.

Please note that the current owner of a property does not have automatic rights to details that were submitted by a previous owner, relating to Building Regulation applications at that property. The only way they can enjoy these rights is if they have written consent from the previous owner allowing them to be treated in the same way as though they were the previous owner.

Please note that Building Control records are kept for 15 years in accordance with the Councils’ retention policy.

Completion certificate and decision notices – copy requests

The owner, or owner’s solicitor, should send a request in writing accompanied by the correct fee - please see miscellaneous charges document below. We will produce a written response for dispatch by post or email, as applicable, by close of business up to a maximum of 10 working days after payment has been received. Responses to enquiries made by the property owner will be sent by post to the address of the property being enquired upon. Responses to enquiries made by a solicitor will be sent by post to their offices or upon request by email as well.

Fees

The fee charged covers researching the enquiry, retrieving records, producing a written response and one copy document (up to one hours work). Please see our list of charges here.

Should an enquiry take more than one hour to complete additional charges will be applicable - see building control miscellaneous charges below.

Should it be necessary to refer to a Building Control Surveyor to provide a response to your enquiry additional charges will be applicable - see building control miscellaneous charges below.

Please note: All charges are non-refundable, regardless of outcome of the enquiry, as the charges cover the cost of undertaking research not the actual provision of the documentation. i.e. It is possible the council does not hold the records that are requested, but this will not become apparent until the research has been completed.

Urgent Requests

We are able to provide an expedited two-day response service which is charged at a higher rate - see building control miscellaneous charges below. These fees are also non-refundable.

As per our normal enquiries service, the owner, or owner’s representative, should send a request in writing accompanied by the correct fee. We will produce a written response for dispatch by post or email, as applicable, by close of business up to a maximum of 2 working days after payment has been received. Responses to enquiries made by the property owner will be sent by post to the address of the property being enquired upon. Responses to enquiries made by a solicitor will be sent by post to their offices or upon request by email as well.

Plan viewing

The owner of a property or a solicitor acting in the sale of the property should send a written request providing the address of the property and advise their connection to the property.

We will check to see if we hold any records and advise accordingly.

Please note: We make plan drawings available but are not able to provide details of the works for which they were originally submitted, or comment on their suitability for your purpose prior to viewing. Viewing is by appointment only – to be arranged after it has been established that we hold records.

The charge for this service should be paid in advance – please see building control miscellaneous charges below. We would expect to make files available within 10 working days form the date of payment. However, in some circumstances this period may be longer as many of our records are stored at an off-site location.

Please note: We may be able to undertake a third party enquiry, but this will be dependent on the provision of signed written authorisation from the current owner addressed to the Building Control Service.

The authorisation should state the connection of the writer to the property and expressly nominate an individual/company and employee who is authorised to act on their (the owners) behalf.

Copying of plans

Plans and architectural drawings are protected under Copyright Law and therefore copies cannot be reproduced without the express permission of the original Copyright owner, i.e. the producer of the drawing (not the party for whom it was produced). This type of Copyright is valid for 100 years from the date of production. Please see building control miscellaneous charges below for copying fees.

Drainage records

Access to these records is not restricted. Please send an email to building control requesting that we make a search of the records stating the address of the property that you are interested in. We will check to see if we hold any records and advise accordingly.

If we hold records and you wish to proceed with viewing, please note the following:

• We make plans available but we do not review or comment on their suitability for your purpose
• The charge for this service should be paid in advance and is non-refundable - see building control miscellaneous charges below
• Please note we would expect to make records available within 10 working days form the date of payment
• The records are held in both paper and microfiche form.

Please note our microfiche records are unavailable until further notice.

• Viewing of the records may be undertaken by pre-arranged appointment at our offices, see link below for Building Control contact details.

or

• In some circumstances we may be able to scan and email the record to you.

Reports/summaries – current and historic applications

We may be able to write or provide summary reports based on the information we hold on file. The initial non refundable fee for this service is £110.00. This sum covers our research costs, which will include retrieval of files and a preliminary review of the information available. Based on the preliminary review we will advise either:

1. We do not hold the information you are seeking.
2. A fee quote for the production of the requested report/summary (Time/Resources)

Should we find that more time/resources are required than initially envisaged we will advise you of the additional fee required to conclude the report. Upon receipt of payment we will recommence work.

Please note this service is only available to the owner of a property or a solicitor acting in the sale of a property. We will produce a written response for dispatch by post or email, as applicable, by close of business up to a maximum of 10 working days after payment of fees. Responses to enquiries made by the property owner will be sent by post to the address of the property being enquired upon. Responses to enquiries made by a solicitor will be sent by post to their offices or upon request by email as well.

We may be able to offer an expedited service but this will incur increased fees and be dependent upon the availability of records and resources.

Payment of fees

Payment may be made by cheque, telephone card payment or by bank transfer. We do not accept cash. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Islington Council’.
Please call 020 7527 5999 to make a telephone card payment or for advice on making a bank transfer. Please see miscellaneous charges document below for correct fee.

Approved inspectors – private building control companies

Approved inspectors are obliged to notify the local authority building control service (LABC) when they are commissioned to control works and also when works are in compliance. The LABC is required to make a record of the notifications.

Please note we do not provide copies of the above mentioned notifications. We will however provide the name and contact details of the company concerned in order that you may approach them directly.

Registration of notifications from approved inspectors are prefixed IN in the results of a local land charges search.

Islington Council leaseholders

If you are an Islington Council leaseholder and are planning on carrying out any alterations to your property, you are required to use Islington Council Building Control services. This is the agreed process for building regulation approval before consideration will be given for landlord’s consent, as required under the terms of the lease. Please follow the process outlined on this page.

Prospective purchasers, private search companies and energy performance certificate (EPC) requests

The Building Control Service does not provide this information. Please contact Local Land Charges