How to book and when we need to inspect

How to book an inspection

Please notify us at each stage by either:

Book on-line

LABC Site Inspection App

We offer a next working day inspection service. Inspections are available Monday to Friday during office hours. Generally, this would be carried out between 8.30am and 3.30pm and does not include weekends or bank holidays. Please ensure that this request is submitted before 4.00pm for a next working day inspection. Any inspection requests submitted after this time will carry over to the following working day i.e. Tuesday following receipt after 4.00pm on Friday.

This is to ensure we can improve our service and carry out more inspections in the morning when customer demand is at its greatest.

Please ensure that all the necessary inspections are carried out. A completion certificate will not be issued unless all necessary inspections have been completed. Please check this with your contractor.

Inspection Stages

You will have received your project inspection plan. This indicates the stages that you should notify us of during construction. You must notify us when work starts and when each stage has been reached. If you need help; please contact our business support team on 0300 790 0580. Please contact us if you are unsure about any issues of compliance with the building regulations.

Guidance on site safety has been issued for all building sites. Please read the recent guidance on safe site operating guidelines. We suggest you discuss with your agent and contractor(s) their own contingency plans. Work should not continue where these essential health and safety measures are not in place. If work is continuing on site, you should ensure that you or your contractor(s) are able to keep in touch with us by phone or email and keep a record of works by digital photos as either peg or PDF files submitted by email.

Change to our site inspection service

We recognise the need to balance service delivery with reduced personal contact, so where possible we may conduct virtual inspections. 

We will assess your request on a case by case basis; but we intend to provide a ‘virtual site inspection’ by accepting photographs and short video clips along with a written description of the works undertaken. Advance notice would be appreciated so we can help and advise you.

Once these have been submitted to our team; we will then contact you to advise if we need any further details or if you are okay to continue with your project. 

It is crucial that evidence of the work undertaken is provided. We will be reliant on this to issue your completion certificate. Any photographs should demonstrate critical elements of the work and show tape measurements as necessary.

Surveyors will assess your photos/ videos and seek to advise you that this evidence is acceptable or additional information is required.

Here are some examples, though the list is not exhaustive:

Commencement – virtual inspection (unless it is combined with a foundation inspection)

Foundations – on site visit

DPC – possible virtual inspection

Drainage – possible virtual inspection

Floor preparation (oversite) – possible virtual inspection

Structural works – possible virtual inspection, ideally combined with another inspection

Insulation works – possible virtual inspection

Completions – on site visit

General advice – all information can be submitted remotely and we will contact you to further discuss your enquiry.

When you undertake a building project, you are legally obliged as the property owner to make sure construction meets building regulations. It is essential that the person carrying out the work ensures that our surveyors can undertake inspections safely.

What do I need to do?

If you used an agent to make your application, they should have provided you with a copy of our approval/acknowledgement notice and any drawings associated with your application. We would recommend giving a copy of these to your contractor to work from.

We recommend you take a personal involvement by discussing your project with our surveyor. This helps clear up any problems before your contractor leaves the site. Inspection reports are restricted to requirements covered by building regulations current at that time. They do not constitute evidence that building regulations have been satisfied. It remains the responsibility of the person carrying out the work to ensure that the work complies with building regulations.

Planning permission may be required before work can start on site. Check the Planning Portal website, which has advice on whether your proposals require consent.

What happens next?

We will contact you on receipt of your commencement notice to introduce ourselves, discuss the project and answer any questions you may have. If the work is being done on a Building Notice, we will ask about how the work is to be constructed, the type and size of materials, and other appropriate questions.  This helps to give us some basic information in the absence of detailed plans. This does not mean that details cannot be altered later. It helps us to work out the design information and site inspections that will be needed.

It is in your own interest to agree a specification with your contractor and to enter into a formal contract prior to starting work. Our Selecting a Builder guidance can help you find a contractor. It also has other useful information to help protect your investment.

When we visit site, we check the work meets building regulations and offer ongoing support to you and your contractor. We can often help resolve issues that might arise as your build progresses.

Why should I have a final inspection?

Make sure you book a final inspection.

It is important that you contact us no more than 5 days after your project is complete. We will need to make a final inspection of the work.  If you do not, we will be unable to issue your completion certificate. 

A future request for a final inspection i.e. when the property is being sold will incur an additional charge.

We will issue a completion certificate free of charge to you and your agent (where requested) once it has been satisfactorily completed. This proves the work was inspected by us and complied with the building regulations.   We will also need to have received:-

• full payment of your building control charges
• any relevant competent person scheme notifications for electrical work etc.

It is essential that a satisfactory final inspection is undertaken and a completion certificate is issued. Your completion certificate is important and you should keep it in a safe place. It shows future purchasers, lenders and solicitors that, as far as can be ascertained, your project complied with the building regulations.

If you do not do this, any remedial work will be your responsibility to complete and may involve additional costs. This may also delay the sale of your property. It will be declared as an outstanding matter on any legal search carried out by your purchaser's solicitors.

Future sale of the property

Our completion certificate is required by solicitors as part of the house sale process. It will be needed if you sell your property in the future. We would recommend this certificate is kept safe, possibly with the deeds of your property. Future copies will not be obtainable free of charge. A further charge will be made to carry out a final inspection at a later date.