Self-build for beginners GUIDE TO BUILDING REGULATIONS

Confused by how to navigate the ins and outs of Building Regs? Our in-depth advice from experts is here to make the process easier

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Building Regulations can be more than a little confusing to navigate. These regulations apply whether you are self-building, renovating or extending your home. In fact, the majority of construction work – even fairly minor alterations – will require Building Regulations compliance of some kind or another.

Of course, if you're building a new home entirely from scratch, you'll be required to get to grips with a lot more of these regulations than those who are extending or if you're just undertaking some light remodelling to your home.

There have been some important changes to several documents concerning those building or altering their homes – changes to Part L and Part O were particularly notable and within this guide, we'll take a quick look at what these new rules could mean for you.

WHAT ARE BUILDING REGULATIONS?

Building Regs are a set of standards designed to ensure a property is safe and comfortable to live in, and, increasingly, energy efficient and mitigating its contribution to carbon emissions.

It is important to realise that while Building Regulations are law and compliance is mandatory, how to achieve this is not set in stone. The Approved Documents, which underpin the Building Regulations, are intended to provide guidance about how to satisfy the rules in common building situations, but they do not cover all scenarios. Compliance may need to be proven in other ways, such as providing structural calculations by a qualified structural engineer to convince the Registered Building Control Approver that what's been built is satisfactory.

For most projects, following the guidance set out by the Approved Documents is sufficient, however, they tend to evolve as housing policy does, and in June 2022, there were some major updates that you should be aware of.