Building control surveyor: Job description

Building control surveyors ensure that building regulations and other legislation are followed when houses, offices and other buildings are designed and constructed. These regulations cover areas such as public health, fire safety, energy conservation and building accessibility. They also check that property alterations, including extensions and conversions, meet regulations.

Building control surveyors use their professional skill and judgment to offer advice on acceptable solutions to meet the statutory requirements of regulations. On complex projects, they may be involved at the pre-application stage to offer advice on design and safety issues. After the work has started, they make site visits at various stages to ensure that the construction is being properly carried out.

Typical work activities

Building control surveyors advise and make judgments on building proposals. Applications are normally paper-based forms but they may also be submitted via email. Generally they examine plans, drawings, specifications and other documents submitted for approval to ensure that they comply with building regulations, using practical guidance set out in the approved documents published by the Department for Communities and Local Government .

At this stage, the work may involve:

• asking the client for further details;
• advising applicants on changes to ensure the legal requirements are met;
• issuing conditional approval, subject to other steps being included in the process;
• issuing approval for the work to commence.

Building control surveyors can be employed by either local authorities or the private sector in England and Wales as licensed approved inspectors. They inspect the plans of the scheme to see that they demonstrate compliance with the building regulations and associated legislation.

Once the work begins, building control surveyors visit the site at different stages to ensure that the construction work is being properly carried out. At this stage, the work may involve:

• carrying out regular inspections of the building and building methods;
• inspecting and testing foundations and drainage works;
• taking samples of new building materials and assessing their suitability;
• keeping records of the visits made to site;
• issuing completion certificates when the work has been carried out satisfactorily.

The work also involves:

• liaising and communicating with members of the public, councillors, construction professionals and statutory bodies, e.g. highways, planning and environmental health departments;
• liaising with special interest groups such as historic building conservation officers and national heritage organisations (e.g. the National Trust, English Heritage, Historic Scotland and Cadw);
• calculating the fee to be charged to the client;
• keeping up to date with current regulations and legislation;
• prosecuting builders if non-compliance has occurred, although this is a last resort.

On more complex projects, the building control surveyor may be involved at the pre-application stage to advise applicants on design issues and suggest alternatives that may help to reduce the risk of delays and save costs. Building control surveyors in local government may also be involved in approving demolitions and carrying out surveys of potentially dangerous buildings.