On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 21:21:24 -0000, a particular chimpanzee named
"Will Dean" randomly hit the keyboard and
produced:

Is it really the case that building control departments have to be
self-funding in their own right?

The Building Regulations fees have to at least cover the cost of
carrying out that work. There are other functions of Building Control
which are not fee-earning and are covered by the Council's general
budget (dangerous structures, for instance). In recent years, with
the building boom, most BC sections are net contributors to the
Council's budget.

Not that I think it's a particularly severe burden, as they've got a
statutory right to demand the money, and the level of the fees has no
particular impact in terms of negative publicity for anybody. Sounds like
an easy way to make a living, really.

The Local Authority's Building Control section has to compete with
Approved Inspectors for most commercial and new housing, so the level
of fees have to remain competitive.

In terms of the amount of inspections, there can be as much work in a
cowboy builder's kitchen extension as there is in a multi-million
pound warehouse run by a professional building company with site
agents, site engineers, project teams, etc.

TBH, I would think that the increasing trivialisation of the building regs
would be a boon to them - it must be an awful lot cheaper to inspect a hot
water tank installation (no wellys required, check that it has a part L
sticker on it and leave) than a lot of other things which are already in the
same fee band. And of course, soaking DIYers is a lot safer than putting
it on the council tax.

BC don't generally inspect HW tanks unless as part of other work.
Replacement gas central heating is covered by the self-certification
for CORGI installers.

With replacement windows as an example, it costs a certain amount in
admin time to register an application, the surveyor has to visit the
site to check that the installation is correct (or not), and more
often than not, to get into a half-hour discussion with the d-i-y-er
about why such an application was necessary in the first place (which
can vary from "cos it's the law" to a treatise on the Kyoto treaty,
the unfair burden for reducing CO2 emissions on house builders, and
whether or not the government is in league with Pilkingtons and the
manufacturers of Celotex). And all for a fee of around £50.

Speak to any BCO, and the thing they would fear and hate the most
would to reduce their job to a mere collector of certificates. Most
want to be out on site, wellies and all (although ask me that again in
the middle of a drain trench on a sleety February Monday morning and
you may get a different answer).
--
Hugo Nebula
"The fact that no-one on the internet wants a piece of this
shows you just how far you've strayed from the pack".