John Rumm wrote:

Woa, where do you get the £300 from? A building notice for a small job
like that ought to cost under £100. If you council is suggesting that
you ought to pay for the inspection then I would suggest pointing them
at the memo from the orifice of the deputy prime minister that says they
ain't allowed to charge extra for that bit.


I tried this approach a couple of months ago. The fee in my case was
quoted at £200 for the building notice (not the lowest level as it
included other work) and then an additional £170 for the electrical
inspection, if I chose to DIY.
I pointed out the relevent bit of the odpm site about charging extra,
and they told me that they were restructuring their charges to take that
into account. Fast forward to now, and they have indeed restructured
their charges!
Whereas before they could not alter the charge of a building regs
application once it had been agreed, they have simply updated their
forms to say Part P inspection work is charged at £170 extra.
So _technically_ they are complying with the odpm memo by not charging
extra, as the charge is specified in advance, although the way I read
the memo it suggested that the extra cost of inspection should not be
passed onto the client....


Ben.