Two routes: the council or a private approver
Building regulations in England can be checked in two ways. The first is the local authority's own building control team. The second is a private business, now called a registered building control approver. Private building control is not new: it existed before the current register, and GOV.UK's guidance recognises businesses that were registered under the earlier arrangements.
What changed is registration. The Building Safety Regulator now registers private building control businesses, and the registration regulations came into force on 6 April 2024. GOV.UK says that every private sector business wanting to do building control work in England and Wales has to apply to register.
For a homeowner, the choice is practical. The council route is the default and needs no search. A private approver may suit a larger job or a developer's programme. Either way the question that follows is the same: which of them has accepted the job, and who has told them. Ask for the approver's registration details in writing; the council team stays available if you prefer it.
Settling who sends the notice
There is no value in assuming. In a roofing job, three people could plausibly make the contact: you, the roofer, or an agent such as a surveyor. A notice that everyone thinks someone else has sent leaves you with unapproved work and a problem when you sell.
Before the start date, get a short written answer to each of these:
- Does this re-roof need notifying under the Planning Portal test, and who decided that.
- Who will send the notice or application, and when.
- Which building control team or approver will inspect the work.
- What certificate you will receive when the job is done.
- Whether the roofer or an agent will chase the completion paperwork afterwards.
A written quote gives one total after the survey, so check it says whether any building control fee is included or sits with you. The answer is a sentence on the quote, not a debate on the scaffold. Keep the emails too: a dated message is better proof than a phone call, and it saves arguments later. If the covering is heavier than the old one, say so at this stage, because a heavier covering can trigger an application on its own.
The team for your district
The right team follows the council area the house stands in. Thanet runs its own service, and the number is 01843 577522. Folkestone & Hythe runs its own too, on 01303 853538. Dover has its own team, and the way in is through the council's building control page.
Canterbury and Swale addresses are different. Both use STG Building Control, which can be reached on 01634 331133. Ashford addresses go to Ashford Borough Council's building control.
The councils word the re-roof question differently. Thanet points to the Planning Portal's Interactive House. Dover's page counts a new roof covering as approval work and gives no exemption to a like-for-like swap; that wording stays with Dover addresses. Folkestone & Hythe treats new roof coverings as something that may need approval, while many routine repairs and replacements do not. For Canterbury and Swale addresses, the Planning Portal test is the working guide. Ask the team for your own address if the case sits near a line, and name the page you relied on, since each publishes different wording. The numbers above reach the building control teams themselves, not the planning desks, and a planning question needs a separate call.
Does your re-roof need notifying at all?
The Planning Portal's rule of thumb is to stay under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, and then, normally, no application is needed. The envelope covers the walls, floor and roof along with windows, doors, roof windows and rooflights, and a full re-roof is 100 per cent of the roof, so it goes past the second figure. Replacing a few tiles passes both. Approval is also needed whenever a new covering is 15 per cent or more heavier, so say early if the plan is to change the type of covering.
Where the answer is not obvious, raise the question with your district's building control team ahead of the start, and keep its answer. Thanet's register will supply a copy of a completion certificate at £54, VAT included, so guard the original with the house papers and photograph it for safety.
More on the sums is in the 50 per cent roof rule and like-for-like re-roofing approval. The wider job sits under roof replacement.
