Arun building control: who checks roof work in Bognor Regis?

Building control is the system that checks building work against the Building Regulations. In Bognor Regis you have two routes. One is Arun District Council's own building control team. The alternative is a registered building control approver, a private body that must appear on a register which has applied since 6 April 2024. Private building control existed before the register, and the register now names who can act.

Both routes apply the same standards, so the choice is about service and cost. Ask the council or the approver what they charge for your job. Should your chosen approver stop trading once the Building Safety Regulator has taken its licence away, Arun asks you to come back to the council. Building control is separate from planning, and the two have different decision makers, as our answer on roof planning in the South Downs shows.

The Planning Portal sets out two tests that both need to be met before you can skip an application: under 25 per cent of the building envelope affected, and under 50 per cent of the roof. The envelope is every outer surface of the house, including glazing and roof windows. You cross the line by exceeding either limit, changing the structure, fitting a covering that would react differently if a fire broke out, or choosing a material at least 15 per cent heavier than the old one.

Arun's own page for applications includes renewing the covering, whether the roof is pitched or flat, in the work it expects to approve. The two positions sit side by side, so the safe course is to put the specifics of your roof to Arun's team before work begins. Where approval is due, we walk you through consent and look after the Building Regulations notification. Our answer on re-roofing and building regulations sets out the tests in detail.

Once an application is accepted, the building control body inspects as the work progresses and again at the end. Arun's inspections page says an inspection cannot be requested for the same morning, that final visits are available Monday to Wednesday only, and that a full day's notice is needed. Plan your roof programme around those limits, because a job that ends on a Thursday may have to wait for the next week to be signed off.

On a re-roof the inspector may look at the fixings, the underlay and ventilation, and how the new covering meets the walls. Thermal performance can come into it too. Approved Document L asks for an upgrade once more than 50 per cent of a roof element has been renovated, or more than 25 per cent of the whole external envelope, and laying a replacement waterproof membrane across a flat roof is treated as renovation too. Keep your photographs and paperwork handy for the visit, together with the written quote, so the inspector can see what was specified and compare it with what was built.

Arun's building control team publishes the address bldg.con@arun.gov.uk for enquiries. Before you write, gather the property address, the type of roof, the covering you plan to use and the area being re-covered. If the new covering weighs more than the old, say so, since one that is 15 per cent or more heavier brings approval into play, and the Planning Portal advises a structural check.

The same council handles building control for homes inside the South Downs National Park that fall in Arun, because the national park authority decides planning while building control stays with the district. If your roof sits in a conservation area, you may need planning advice as well, and our roof repairs and roof replacement pages explain how the survey and written quote follow once the position is clear.

Our roofing services begin with a survey and pictures of the roof as found. If your job falls inside the notifiable range, the quote says so and we deal with the notification and tell you what the building control body needs to see, so the forms are not yours to untangle. After the work, we leave the paperwork with you so that completion can be signed off.

For larger jobs, such as a heavier covering or a roof that is being insulated to a new standard, the building control body may want to see details before it agrees. It is better to raise that at the survey than halfway through, when a change of plan costs time and money. If you are planning something that is also a question of cost, our answer on VAT on roofing work covers how the tax applies to the quote.