A building warrant is the legal permission to start building work, conversion works, or demolition works. Much like planning permission, the building warrant process is overseen by a building standards department within the Local Authority to ensure compliance with the building regulations. Unlike planning, a building warrant is not subject to rejection if the regulations are adhered to. The building warrant covers all aspects of building work and often provides the relevant information for contractors to carry out the building works safely and correctly on site, such as:
- Structural requirements – Foundations, Lintels, Steelwork, Suspended Floors and/or Roofs.
- Insulation requirements to ensure the development is energy efficient.
- Drainage layouts – Provision of adequate surface water and foul drainage systems.
- Electrical installations – Sockets, Switches, Lighting, Solar Panels.
- Heating provisions – Boilers, Flues, Woodburning Stoves, Air/ Ground Source Heat pump installations, Oil Storage.
A building warrant application generally consists of detailed plans, structural calculations and design procedures, put together and submitted to the Local Authority by a suitably qualified agent. If you carry out any works that requires a building warrant, without first obtaining a warrant you are committing an offence, leaving you open to fines and potentially requiring the works to be reversed or demolished retrospectively.
Our team prides itself on providing a multi-disciplinary approach as we carry out full Architectural and Structural design services under one roof. No need to involve multiple consultants spread between different offices and working for different companies when we can provide the full service tailored to meet the clients’ individual requirements as a one stop shop. Utilising AutoCAD and Sketchup software we can take a project from inception to completion whilst providing cost effective solutions to meet with the clients’ requirements and expectations.