You’ve just discovered that work carried out on your home — perhaps a wall removal, an extension, or a loft conversion — was never signed off by Building Control. It’s an unsettling position to be in, but you’re far from alone, and there are clear steps you can take to put things right.
Key Takeaways
- Building Control approval is a legal requirement under the Building Regulations for most structural and significant building work in England and Wales.
- Unpermitted work can cause serious problems when you come to sell your home, remortgage, or make an insurance claim.
- A regularisation application allows you to retrospectively obtain approval for completed work — but it involves inspection and possible remedial work.
- A structural engineer’s report can support your regularisation application and give your solicitor and buyer confidence in the work.
- Ignoring the problem is rarely the right answer; the sooner you act, the more options you have.
What Building Control actually is — and why it exists
Building Control is the system by which local authorities (and approved private inspectors) check that building work complies with the Building Regulations. In England and Wales, the Building Regulations set minimum standards for structural integrity, fire safety, drainage, insulation, ventilation, and more. Part A of the Regulations specifically covers structure — the bit that matters most when walls are being removed or openings are being formed.
The purpose of Building Control isn’t to generate paperwork. It exists to make sure that work carried out on homes is safe for the people living in them, and for anyone who buys the property in the future. A Building Control officer will typically inspect the work at key stages — before a beam is covered up, for instance — and issue a completion certificate once everything meets the required standard.
Without that oversight, there’s no independent confirmation that the work was done correctly. A beam might be undersized. A padstone might be missing. A load-bearing wall might have been removed without adequate support. These aren’t hypothetical risks — I see the consequences of uncontrolled structural work regularly in my practice.
What counts as notifiable work?
Not every job around the house requires Building Control approval. Replacing like-for-like windows, painting walls, and fitting a new kitchen (without altering drainage or structure) generally fall outside the scope of the Regulations. However, the following types of work almost always require notification and approval:
- Removing or altering a load-bearing wall
- Installing a steel beam (RSJ) or structural lintel
- Building an extension (including single-storey rear extensions)
- Converting a loft or garage into habitable space
- Underpinning foundations
- Installing a new structural opening for a window or door in a load-bearing wall
- Most electrical work beyond like-for-like replacement
If you’re unsure whether the work at your property was notifiable, the safest approach is to contact your local authority’s Building Control department directly. They’re generally helpful and won’t penalise you simply for asking a question. Alternatively, a structural engineer can advise you on whether the specific work falls within scope.
It’s also worth understanding that Permitted Development rights — which allow certain extensions and alterations without planning permission — are entirely separate from Building Regulations. You can have Permitted Development rights and still need Building Control approval. The two systems operate independently, and conflating them is one of the most common misunderstandings I encounter.
What happens if Building Control approval is missing?
The practical consequences of missing Building Control approval tend to surface at two moments: when you try to sell the property, and when something goes wrong.
At the point of sale
Your solicitor is required to disclose building work to the buyer’s solicitor. If there’s no completion certificate, the buyer’s solicitor will flag it. This can cause a sale to stall or collapse. Some buyers will walk away. Others will ask you to reduce the price or take out indemnity insurance.
Indemnity insurance — a word of caution
Indemnity insurance is often presented as a quick fix. It’s a policy that protects the buyer (and their mortgage lender) against the financial consequences of enforcement action by the local authority. It does not confirm that the work is safe. It does not confirm that the work complies with Building Regulations. It simply provides financial cover if the local authority takes action — which, in practice, they rarely do for older work.
Mortgage lenders are increasingly reluctant to accept indemnity insurance alone for structural work, particularly wall removals and beam installations. If the work looks significant, they may instruct their own surveyor, who may flag concerns that the insurance doesn’t address.
If something goes wrong
If a structure fails — a beam deflects excessively, a wall cracks, a floor sags — and there’s no Building Control sign-off, your insurer may question whether the work was carried out to a proper standard. That can complicate or invalidate a claim. More importantly, people can be hurt. Structural failures don’t always announce themselves in advance.
The regularisation route: getting retrospective approval
If the work at your property was carried out after 11 November 1985 and was notifiable but never approved, you can apply for regularisation. This is a formal process through your local authority’s Building Control department that allows completed work to be assessed retrospectively.
Here’s broadly how the process works:
- Submit a regularisation application — you’ll pay a fee (set by the local authority) and provide details of the work carried out.
- Building Control inspects — an officer will visit the property. Depending on what’s been done and how accessible it is, they may ask for parts of the work to be opened up for inspection. This might mean removing a section of plasterboard to inspect a beam bearing, for example.
- Remedial work if required — if the work doesn’t meet the required standard, you’ll need to put it right before a regularisation certificate can be issued.
- Certificate issued — once satisfied, Building Control issues a regularisation certificate. This isn’t quite the same as a standard completion certificate, but it’s a formal record and is generally accepted by solicitors and lenders.
The regularisation process can feel intrusive, but it’s genuinely the most reliable way to resolve the situation. A regularisation certificate gives future buyers and their lenders something concrete to rely on.
How a structural engineer fits into this process
A structural engineer can play a valuable supporting role in a regularisation application, particularly where the work involved structural alterations — wall removals, beam installations, new openings, and so on.
When I’m asked to help in these situations, I typically carry out a site inspection to assess the existing structure. I’ll check the beam size against the span and loading, confirm whether padstones are present and adequate, and look at how the load is being transferred down through the building. I then produce a structural report setting out my findings.
This report serves several purposes. It gives the Building Control officer independent professional evidence about the adequacy of the structure. It gives the homeowner clarity about whether the work is actually safe. And it gives solicitors, buyers, and mortgage lenders a document they can rely on — something more substantive than an indemnity policy.
In some cases, I find that the work is structurally adequate despite the lack of formal approval. In others, I identify deficiencies that need addressing. Either way, knowing the true position is far better than hoping for the best.
It’s also worth noting that Approved Document A, which supports Part A of the Building Regulations, provides guidance on structural requirements. A structural engineer working to current standards will reference this guidance as part of their assessment.
What if the work is older than 1985?
Regularisation only applies to work carried out after 11 November 1985. For older work, the regularisation route isn’t available. However, the structural concerns are just as real, and a structural engineer’s report can still provide evidence of the current condition of the structure.
For sale purposes, older unauthorised work is generally handled through indemnity insurance, since the local authority’s enforcement powers are time-limited. But I’d always recommend getting a structural engineer to assess the work independently, regardless of the insurance position. A policy that pays out if the council takes action doesn’t tell you whether the beam over your kitchen is the right size.
When to call a structural engineer
You should involve a structural engineer as soon as you identify that structural work at your property lacks Building Control approval — particularly if that work involved removing walls, installing beams or lintels, or altering foundations. A structural engineer can assess whether the existing work is safe, produce a report to support a regularisation application, and give you an honest professional view of your position before you commit to a course of action. If you’re in the process of buying a property and a surveyor has flagged missing Building Control approval for structural work, that’s equally a situation where independent structural input is worth having before you exchange.
Need expert advice on this?
I am a Chartered Structural Engineer (CEng, MIStructE) based in Huddersfield. The Beam Doctor offers two ways to get my expert input on your project:
- Remote Assessment from £150 — fast desktop review of your situation with a written professional opinion. See remote assessment options →
- Site Visit £395 (West Yorkshire) — on-site inspection with formal structural report. Book a site visit →
Leave a Reply