What is building control, and how is it different from planning permission?
Two entirely separate approvals that people routinely conflate. Planning permission governs whether a development is acceptable in principle — its appearance, scale and effect on neighbours and the area. Building control governs whether the work is technically safe and compliant with the building regulations.
The consequence of the distinction: you can have planning permission and still be refused building control approval, and a great deal of work needs building control but no planning permission at all — which is where most people go wrong.
What the building regulations cover: structure, fire safety and means of escape, damp and weather resistance, ventilation, drainage, energy efficiency, electrical safety, gas, sound insulation, accessibility, and protection from falling.
Work that typically needs building control even without planning:
Removing or altering a load-bearing wall.
Loft and garage conversions.
Replacing windows and doors, and roof coverings above a threshold area.
New or altered drainage.
Most electrical work in kitchens and bathrooms, and consumer unit replacement.
Installing a boiler or a heating appliance.
Underpinning and structural alteration.
The two routes:
A full plans application, where drawings are checked before work starts — slower, and gives certainty.
A building notice, where work proceeds with inspections at stages — faster, and risks being told to undo something.
Competent person schemes, where a registered installer self-certifies certain work — gas, electrical, windows — and notifies the authority. This is how most homeowners comply without realising, and it is why the certificate matters.
Why it matters at sale. A conveyancer will ask for a completion certificate for regulated work. Its absence causes delays, price reductions, indemnity insurance or a failed sale — and an indemnity policy covers the risk of enforcement, not the risk that the work is actually unsafe, which is the distinction buyers frequently miss.
Enforcement has time limits, but the sale problem does not expire.
Listed buildings and conservation areas add separate consents again.
General information, not legal advice.