Yin and Yang.

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Bagsy first post!

Building regulations:

These are a set of rules that govern how a building is put together and cover a range of issues within the build ,i.e. foundation depth, concrete thickness, floor wall and roof insulation, damp prevention (dpm, dpc etc), joist, rafter and purlin sizes, structural calculations, electrical reg's and heating reg's.

They are set out to insure a building is both thermally efficient and that the structural elements within the building are adequate to do the job.

The building will be periodically inspected either by building control officers from the local authority (council) or by a private independent control body.

These inspections however do not necessarily control quality issues such as the neatness of brickwork or the finish of the plastering etc.

Planning:

These strange folk are interested in the impact the building will have upon its surroundings, how it will blend in and what environmental issues it may have. Visual things such as signs or notices, car parking issues, noise pollution, roof heights, front facades etc all may require approval from planning way before you need to get building control on board.

These offices rarely collude with each other and are two very separate animals. Don't think because you have one on board that the other will tow the line.... :shock:  8)
 
Nor think that you'll always be able to satisfy both - there are times, with listed properties and/or conservation areas, where the planners will prevent you doing work which will comply with the Building Regulations and will insist that you do it in a way which contravenes them..
 
Summary - one is what you can build, the other is how you will build it
 
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