If you intend to carry out any building work, you will need to ensure that any work complies with the requirements of The Building Regulations 2010 and the Building Safety Act 2022.

Building control bodies are responsible for ensuring compliance is kept with the building regulations. The Building Safety Regulator is part of the HSE and is a statutory consultee for planning applications which involve relevant buildings in England.  They regulate high-rise residential buildings with:

• at least 7 floors or at least 18 metres in height
• at least 2 residential units

They also regulate care homes and hospitals during their design and construction phases. Please visit their webpage for more information.

Generally, the regulations apply if you want to:

• Erect a new building;
• Extend or alter an existing building;
• Provide services and/or fittings in a building;
• Alter the use of the building.

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) applies to the premises or will apply following the work, the building control body must consult with us.

In deciding the suitability of the proposals for building regulations purposes we will consider the guidance contained within Fire Safety: Approved Document B from The Building Regulations (see Useful Links), however, there may be other ways in which an equivalent level of fire safety can be achieved.

A proforma should be submitted with a building regulations consultation as detailed in the LABC Building Regulations and Fire Safety Procedural Guidance.  If the proforma in Appendix J is not submitted then your building regulations consultation will be returned to you with a request to provide this. Please note that the 15-day statutory requirement for our response will not begin until the required information has been provided.

You can read a copy of Appendix J online in either PDF or Word format.

Whilst we will offer observations to the building control body regarding compliance with the building regulations, the primary role of the consultation process is to ensure that the completed building will meet the requirements of the FSO once the building is occupied. This will ensure, as far as possible, that no additional works are necessary.

If you intend to carry out building work, it is recommended that in the first instance you contact your local authority building control department or approved inspector.

Further guidance and information is available free of charge from the Planning Portal (see the Useful Links section).

Should you require any further information on fire safety legislation please contact your local fire safety office.

Building Regulations – Approved document B Fire Safety
View the document online.

Planning Portal
The Government’s online planning and building regulations resource for England and Wales.

Your Local Fire Safety Office
Local Fire Safety Offices are available for further information from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Fire Appliance Sizes and Weights
View the specifications of our vehicles on our Vehicles Page.