Building Control Newsletter - May 2016

HELLO AGAIN!

May 2016

Welcome to the 4th edition of our Building Control e-newsletter.

If you have missed our previous editions, this format will be published quarterly to keep you informed of the latest changes to the Building Regulations; related CPD events; current technical issues and lots of other useful information and advice. 

NEW FEES

Building Control fee changes – 2016

Please note revised fees will be implemented on the 2nd of May 2016.

Non-Domestic Fees

All non domestic fees will now be assessed on an individual basis. This is to ensure a bespoke fee is calculated in line with the work being carried out specific to the needs of your project.

Domestic Fees 

Our domestic fees have not changed for two years and some of the fees (not all) have been increased slightly in line with inflation and corporate costs.

The fees for extensions, loft conversions and Installation of micro-generation/renovation of a thermal element have been simplified.

The new fees can be found on our website.

Please contact any one of our surveyors or technical support team on 01752 304343 or email at buildcon@plymouth.gov.uk to discuss charges for non domestic projects and also if you have any queries regarding domestic fees.

STAFF PROFILE - JOHN FLATMAN

Originally from Warwickshire, John started working life as a Site Engineer working on various projects around the Midlands.

He then spent two years in Saudi Arabia as a Section Engineer.

Johns journey then saw him move to Devon working with Wimpey Homes as a Senior Engineer.

He left Devon to work on a contract in Papua New Guinea working as a Works Supervisor in Port Moresby, but later returned to Devon and joined Plymouth City Council Building Control where many of you will have seen him since.

John spends most of his non-working time cycling and playing in a ukulele band.

LABC AWARDS

The deadline for submitting nominations for the South West LABC Building Excellence Awards has now passed.  Good luck to all of you who have self nominated or have been nominated by your Building Control Departments.

The South West Awards cover the following areas:

• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• ​Somerset

Once judging has taken place you will be informed whether you have been short listed.  The awards night is taking place on Friday 1 July at:

The Holiday Inn, Armada Way, Plymouth, PL1 2HJ

If you have or know of any projects that are worthy of nomination for an award in 2017 please let your surveyor on site know or contact naomi.cook@plymouth.gov.uk or alternatively you can always nominate the project yourself by visiting the LABC website.   

FREE CPD SESSIONS

Our next CPD event is being held on 18th May 2016. It is our popular morning slot from 8.30am for a 9am start for 1 hour this will include breakfast. 

Dan Anson-Hart from ACTIS Insulation Ltd will be presenting on ACTIS Insulation products. This presentation will be:

• Addressing the Performance Gap with ACTIS Insulation Products.

 This will be held in the usual location of the Plymouth Guildhall, Plymouth PL1 2AA.

To avoid disappointment please book your space now by emailing Christopher.berridge@plymouth.gov.uk  or call 01752 304343, but please be aware numbers are strictly limited in Plymouth Guildhall.

ESCONSULT

Did you know that we have an 'in house' team known as ESConsult who can provide a service that will help make the process of building easier? We provide a value for money, fast response service to anyone requiring any of the following services:

• SAPs and EPCs
• Water Usage Calculations
• SBEMs
• Air Pressure Tests
• Acoustic Testing

You can find an application and fee form for these services on our website.

GETTING TECHNICAL

The Party Wall Act 1996

This legislation was produced in order to protect the rights of existing property owners when an adjacent owner chooses to make alterations to a party structure or create a new party structure.

If you intend to carry out work to an existing party wall or party structure or build a new building at or astride the boundary line between properties, or excavate within 3 or 6 metres of a neighbouring buildings or structures, depending on the depth of the hole or proposed foundations you should serve notice in writing on your neighbours and achieve agreement over the construction prior to works commencing.

Planning and Building Control have no jurisdiction in respect of this legislation, it is purely a matter between adjacent property owners.

This can be a very complicated issue and further information can be found on the GOV.UK website.

LABC WARRANTY

Since 2007 LABC Warranty has worked in partnership with LABC (Local Authority Building Control) throughout England and Wales to provide new home and structural warranties.

Together the aim is to provide complete support for all your structural warranty and Building Control needs.  LABC Warranty provides a range of warranties covering residential, social housing, commercial and self build as well as providing invaluable technical advice.

Should you have a project requiring a warranty your contacts are:

• Account Manager - Dean Stritch 07795 115782 or email dean.stritch@labcwarranty.co.uk
• Surveying Manager - Robert Gary 07776434146 or emial robert.gary@labcwarranty.co.uk
• Alternatively - 0845 0540505 or visit www.labcwarranty.co.uk/localauthority 
  

CONGRATULATIONS CHERYL!

Congratulations to Cheryl Couling who has recently qualified as a Chartered Building Engineer through the CABE. (Chartered Association of Building Engineers).

Cheryl has worked extremely hard over the last 5 years qualifying with First Class Honours Degree in Building Surveying from the University of Plymouth in 2015 and is now able to use the designatory letters of BSc(Hons) C.Build E. MCABE after her name!

She currently covers the East of the city usually being found in the Plympton area.

She can be contacted on 01752 304343 or by email at cheryl.couling@plymouth.gov.uk

ROD STEWART CONCERT IN PLYMOUTH

Building Control are currently involved in chairing the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meetings for the forthcoming Rod Stewart concert at Home Park on Tuesday 6th July 2016.

These meetings and the planning of events in Designated Sports Grounds are very topical in light of recent events with the Hillsborough tragedy verdict when 96 spectators lost their lives.

The SAG is represented by all emergency services, the club, promoters and the relevant PCC departments to ensure spectator safety is fully considered.

More pictures of ‘the build’ changing a football ground to a concert venue will be regularly updated when it takes place a week before the event. If you are interested on seeing how the ‘behind the scenes’ is progressing, please join our social media links below.

FOLLOW AND LIKE US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

You can now find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

By 'following' or 'liking' our pages you can receive up to date newsfeeds detailing projects that we are currently working on and useful information tips from the department.

  Follow us on Twitter

  Like us on Facebook

  Follow us on Instagram

TELEPHONE APPLICATIONS

We now offer an ‘over the telephone’ application service.

This service ensures that your application is registered without delay and payment is made instantly by debit or credit card. 

Details we will need are:

• Applicant details
• Description of works
• Site address and location plan
• (For a Full Plans application) a copy of the drawings to be provided at a later stage 

You can make an application by contacting our Building Control Technical Support team on 01752 304343. 

MAKE AN APPLICATION

You can make an application in three ways: 

1. By telephone on 01752 304343
2. By downloading an application form and emailing it to Buildcon@plymouth.gov.uk
3. By calling into Ballard House, West Hoe Road, or our 1st Stop Shop, 71 New George Street and collecting application forms.  

View our Building Control web pages for more information.

HOW TO CONTACT US

We have a duty surveyor available to answer any questions you may have every day between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on a Friday. They can be contacted on 01752 304343, by email or by dropping into Ballard House reception. Check out who is on call today by looking on our Twitter feed!

To ensure we can improve our service to you, we value any feedback you may be able to provide. A feedback form can be found on our website. We would appreciate you taking just a few minutes of your time to provide us with your comments.

UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS

We hope you find this email newsletter useful but if you want to unsubscribe please click on the link at the very bottom of the email.

If you have changed your contact details (phone number, office location, company name etc) please email us. 

If you wish us to update your details or provide us with any of your colleagues details please let us know your new details via any of the above.

... AND FINALLY

In our next edition of the e-newsletter please look out for other CPD events, staff profiles, another technical topic, and please bear with us while we are overhauling our current website content.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and we hope you have found it useful. Please spread the word to your colleagues and if you follow us on social media you will be provided with regular updates on useful information from Building Control.

FURTHER INFORMATION