You are hopefully aware that Local Authorities were allowed to set their own charges from 1^st October with the requirement that they were transparent and more accurately reflected the actual cost associated with delivering our, not-for-profit, building control service.

Here in Nottinghamshire we have agreed a format for the most common categories of work, based on historic data to ensure a consistency in approach, although the individual Authority charges will vary because of their own internal costs.  All other work not included on the charges guidance will be negotiated with you and the charges will reflect the officer and administrative resources required to complete the project.  This provides an opportunity to ensure that our charges are much more competitive for you.  To maintain these charges we have to assume certain things, like the plans will be approved first time or the following resubmission, that the builder will have things ready when we visit the site, build to a reasonable standard and employ a qualified electrician and other trades to assist. 

If this is not the case then we can now charge for additional work or visits to cover those costs in the same way that our critics already do.  Other building control service providers are already claiming that we are not being upfront about our charges and that you could all be levied with mysterious supplementary charges at any time and without notice.  To clarify, it is likely this will only be done in extreme circumstances where major deviations to a plan take place or where inexperienced builders require far more of our time on site.  Our savings can then be passed back to you because poor building practice will no longer be subsidised by the good.

So as a result we can now offer;

• A quality plan checking and approval process
• An officer on site when you need them for each of the full range of statutory inspections and non statutory inspections (not just a sample)
• Impartial advice and accountability when required
• A dedicated officer for your project
• Facilities for partnership working with your local Authority
• A range of additional services through our national LABC framework

All of this at a truly competitive price where a profit margin is not a prerequisite.

More than ever we are able to offer a service that we can tailor to your individual needs, just ask and we will be delighted to assist.