Building regulations charges compared with planning fees

Planning permission and building regulations approval are two separate consents, granted under different legislation, by different teams, against different tests, and paid for in completely different ways. A householder extension normally needs both. Getting one does not help you with the other, and the most expensive misunderstanding in domestic building work is assuming that it does.

The charging structures also differ in a way that catches people out. Planning fees are set nationally and are the same in Truro as in Newcastle. Building control charges are set locally or commercially, so the same extension can cost noticeably different amounts to sign off depending on who you appoint.

Two systems, two sets of charges

Planning permission is granted under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and deals with land use, scale, appearance, amenity and impact on neighbours and the wider area. Building regulations approval is granted under the Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations 2010, and deals with structural stability, fire safety, ventilation, drainage, energy performance, accessibility and a long list of technical standards.

Permitted development does not exempt work from building regulations. A loft conversion built under Class B of the householder rights still needs building control sign-off for the structure, the stairs, the fire strategy and the insulation.

How building control charges are structured

Local authority charges are made under regulations that require the authority to set them to recover its costs, and each authority publishes a scheme. Most schemes band charges by floor area for extensions, by the number of dwellings for new build, and by value or complexity for anything unusual, with an option for an individually determined charge where the standard bands do not fit.

A full plans charge is normally split. A plan charge is paid when the application is submitted and covers the assessment of the drawings and calculations. An inspection charge is paid later, often after the first site inspection, and covers all the visits through to completion.

Private providers, now known as registered building control approvers following the changes brought in under the Building Safety Act 2022 framework, quote commercially. Their fee may be higher or lower than the authority's and the service model differs, so compare what is included: the number of inspections, whether structural checking is included, and how quickly they attend.

Whichever route, the deliverable that matters is the completion certificate. A conveyancer will ask for it, and a missing certificate is a problem at sale rather than at build.

Full plans against a building notice

There are two main routes for domestic work and they carry different risk.

A full plans application involves submitting drawings, structural calculations and specifications for checking before work starts. The advantage is that problems are found on paper, where they cost a redrawn detail rather than a rebuilt wall. The disadvantage is time at the front.

A building notice involves no plan check. You notify, you build, and the inspector checks on site. It is faster to start and it suits simple work by an experienced builder. It is not available for every type of work, and it puts the whole risk of a non-compliant detail on site, where fixing it is expensive.

Where work has already been carried out without approval, the route is a regularisation application, which carries its own higher charge and no guarantee that everything can be certified after the event. Opening up work for inspection is the usual price of that mistake.

For a first-time client with an unfamiliar builder, the full plans route is generally the better buy even though it looks slower.

Where planning conditions add building costs

Planning conditions frequently commit you to something the building regulations would not have required.

Common examples on householder schemes: a specific brick or render finish to match the host dwelling, obscure glazing and restricted opening to a flank window, a rooflight rather than a dormer, tree protection fencing installed before work starts, a bin and cycle store, a permeable surface to a new driveway, and a restriction on the hours of construction work.

Each of those has a cost, and none of it appears in the building control fee. Read the decision notice with the builder before the contract price is fixed, so the quote reflects the permission rather than the drawings the quote was based on.

The traffic runs the other way too. Building regulations requirements can force a design change that needs planning consent, for example where a means of escape window changes an elevation approved with a smaller opening, or where the energy strategy under Part L drives a wall build-up that pushes the extension beyond the approved footprint. Approved Document S on electric vehicle charging infrastructure and Approved Document O on overheating both bite on new dwellings and can shape the design.

Approved inspector and local authority routes

Choosing between the council's building control team and a private approver is mostly about service, not price.

The council team knows the local ground conditions, the drainage records and the site history, and it has a direct line to the drainage and highways teams. A private provider often responds faster, offers a named inspector, and can work across several sites for the same client.

Two practical points regardless of route. The inspector has to be booked for each stage, and the stages that matter on a domestic job are excavation, foundation concrete, damp proof course and oversite, drains before covering, and completion. Missing an inspection means opening up work.

And where drainage runs near or over a public sewer, a separate build over agreement is needed from the sewerage undertaker. That is a third consent, with its own application and its own charge, and it is not covered by either planning or building control.

Budgeting both approvals together

Set out the full list before the project starts rather than discovering it in instalments.

1. Planning application fee, taken from the current national fee schedule.
2. Design fees for the planning drawings and any supporting statement.
3. Building control charge, either the authority's published band or a private quotation.
4. Structural engineer for calculations and details.
5. Energy calculations where required, and any testing at completion.
6. Party wall surveyor fees where the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies.
7. Build over agreement or drainage connection charges where relevant.
8. The cost of complying with each planning condition on the decision notice.

Items three to eight regularly add up to more than items one and two together, which is the point householders miss when they compare the planning fee against a builder's quotation and conclude that the paperwork is a minor line in the budget.

Where a supporting statement would improve the odds of a first-time approval, a Planning Statement that addresses the council's own design guidance costs far less than a second application. See how PlanScope is priced, or browse the report types to work out what your application should include.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority, your building control body or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.