The Building Regulations provide for a property owner to apply to the local authority for a regularisation certificate in respect of unauthorised building work. This means work which was carried out on or after 11 November 1985 and which should have been submitted to the Building Regulations procedures but was not.
The local authority building inspector will assess the unauthorised work for compliance and may request opening up of the work and construction details. The authority will then decide if remedial work needs to be carried out, in accordance with the Building Regulations which were applicable to that work when it was originally carried out. A regularisation certificate is evidence that the requirements of the Building Regulations specified in the certificate have been complied with.
In my experience of checking unauthorised work it is sometimes not practical to carry out remedial work, for example in a loft conversion that does not meet minimum headroom requirements on stairs due to limited floor to roof height. It is always best to seek professional advice before commencing Building work.
