Appointment of Approved Inspectors to carry out building control service - update 8 October 2019

Please read if you have appointed an Approved Inspector to carry out your building control service

The Building (Approved Inspector) Regulations 2010; The Building Act 1984

Please note that this does not apply to all Approved Inspectors.

We have recently been made aware that some Approved Inspectors have been unable to secure sufficient Professional Indemnity Insurance to enable them to continue to operate as an Approved Inspector. We understand that this means they will not be able to continue to inspect your building works or issue the required statutory notices to you and the Council such as Final Notices. They may have been in contact with you about this already.

The legislation governing this issue is such that if an Approved Inspector realises that they are unable to carry out their functions they must cancel their Initial Notice lodged with the local authority. It appears that Approved Inspectors are not doing this and are asking their customers to undertake that duty. We set out below how you should do this if required.

Note to Aedis clients from Building Control Manager 8 October 2019

We are aware that a number of Aedis clients have been contacted by Begbies Traynor regarding the liquidation of Aedis and are charging to provide further information on their projects. I can confirm that we have been provided with a spreadsheet containing site records, but in many instances these have not provided enough information and detail to satisfy us that work complies with the minimum requirements set out in the Building Regulations. In addition to this we risk assess each of our projects to ensure that we are able to view enough of the work to ascertain compliance. Different building control providers will risk assess projects differently and therefore we may require more visits/detail than other providers.

We sympathise with the situation people are in and we are therefore looking at every case on an individual basis and assessing what needs to be viewed, exposed etc. as sympathetically as possible. Where we have site records provided by Aedis we will take their notes into consideration as part of our own overall assessment.

I am unaware of what further information the liquidators could access which would help your project further. I would therefore advise that on making your application and having your first site visit with your appointed building control officer you try and provide us with as much information on the project as possible. Photographs, receipts for materials, plans etc. will all help us to establish what was constructed and what further information we will require to complete your project.

What to do if your project has already started

If your project has already commenced and you wish to continue to have it inspected you will need to revert this project to local authority building control so that we can undertake inspection(s) and subsequently be able to issue you with a Building Regulation Completion Certificate for your project. There is a charge for this as we have cover our costs but this will be individually assessed based on the size of the project and any information you have about inspections undertaken so far. Building plans, structural calculations and any photographs of the work in progress will also be of great assistance.

We have to make you aware that if we cannot ascertain compliance with particular parts of the work we may have to require certain works to be uncovered for our inspection. It will be our aim to keep this to a minimum.

Cancel an Initial Notice lodged with Herefordshire Council

Please download and complete both:

• A Building Regulations application form - select ‘Reversion’ as the type on the form
• The Building regulations cancellation notice. (Form 7 under the Approved Inspector regulations) This cancels the Initial Notice.

Return both forms to us by post or electronically using the contact details below, accompanied by the further information detailed above. We will then assess this and advise you of the building regulation charge. Once this is paid we will then be able to undertake a first site inspection to be able to advise you further

We appreciate this matter will be of great concern to you but our aim is to assist you through the process so that you can attain the Building Regulation Completion Certificate and have building works that comply with the requirements of the Building Regulations.

Please also see the following frequently asked questions.

Frequently asked questions

• Why are some Approved Inspectors facing difficulties? Approved Inspectors are required to carry Professional Indemnity insurance and Professional Liability insurance from a scheme provider approved by the Secretary of State for MHCLG. One of these scheme providers is pulling out of the market leaving only one remaining provider. Whilst some Approved Inspectors have been able to transfer their policies, some have unfortunately not been offered suitable cover.
    
• What duties can affected Approved Inspectors undertake once their insurance has expired?
  Once their insurance has expired, an Approved Inspector may only submit cancellation notices to local authorities. While some Approved Inspectors claim to have ‘partnered’ with another Approved Inspector, they cannot transfer any works that have commenced to the second Approved Inspector. It may be possible for them to check plans or undertake site inspections on projects for which the second Approved Inspector has submitted a valid initial notice but this is a contractual matter between those two parties and is a matter for their designated body CICAIR.
   
• Can an Approved Inspector submit Initial Notices, Final Certificates etc. after the date their insurance has expired?
  No. In accordance with schedule 2(6), 3(6) and 4(5) of , a declaration signed by the insurer that a named scheme of insurance approved by the Secretary of State for MHCLG applies in relation to the work to which the notice/certificate relates is required. The above notices can only be issued by an Approved Inspector when accompanied by a declaration that insurance cover is in place.
   
• Can an Approved Inspector transfer work to another Approved Inspector who does have insurance?
  No, whilst BA 53(7) does allow another IN to be submitted an initial notice has to be a notice of intent and therefore cannot be submitted after work has started. 

• Does a cancellation notice have to be issued by the Approved Inspector? 
  No. A cancellation notice can be issued either by the Approved Inspector or by the person carrying out the work s.52 BA 1984 refers.
   
• If an Initial Notice is cancelled do we treat it as a regularisation? 
  Technically this is classed as a reversion and not a regularisation, depending on the stage the works it may be necessary to cut in to, lay open or otherwise expose the works undertaken to date.
   
• What information is required?
  The person carrying out the work must provide you with sufficient plans of the work carried out including any plans certificate obtained from the Approved Inspector. They must also comply with any requests made to cut into or expose any works undertaken to date.
   
• Do Approved Inspectors have to provide plans, site inspection records etc. when a project is reverted to a local authority? 
  The legal duty to supply information rests with the person carrying out the work as explained above. However, while there is no legal obligation on the Approved Inspector to transfer information, they are being encouraged by CICAIR, MHCLG and LABC to provide local authorities with as much information as possible, including site inspection records, plans etc. LABC has offered its assistance to affected Approved Inspectors to ensure this transfer proceeds as smoothly as possible.