This booklet provides an introduction to the Building Regulations in England and Wales and is intended for anyone proposing to carry out building projects.  It is not a statment of the law but is intended to help you understand the system.To help you understsnd more about the subjects referred to in the booklet, sources of assistance and information including documents, publications and addresses of organisations - are listed in Annex B at the back.

The booklet deals only with the Building Regulations.  The work which your project involves may be subject to other statutory requirements such as planniing permission, fire precautions, water regulations,licensing/registration and Party Wall etc.act 1996 (see Annex B: Souces of Information)

You should bear in mind that complying with the Building Regulations is a separate matter from obtaining planning permission for your work. Similarly, receiving any planning permission which your work may require is not the same as taking action to ensure that it complies with the Buildiing Regulations.  A free guide is available for householders which explains the planning system.  In addition there is extensiveinformation avalable about the planning system in general and how to go about obtaining planning permission on the internet site Planning Portal (see Annex B: Sources of oinformation).

(The buildiing regulations explained is © Crown copyright 2002. Ammended in February 2005.)

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This booklet is not an authoritative interpritation of the law. It aims to explain in simple terms how the Party Wall etc. Act1996 (the Act) may affect someone who either wishes to carry out work covered by the Act ( the Building Owner) or receives notification under the Act of proposed adjacent work (the adjoining owner).

Under the Act the word owner includes the person or body

• holding the freehold title, or
• holding a leasehold title for aperiod exceeding one year, or
• under contract to purchase such a title, or
• entitled to receive rents from the property

There may therefore be more than one set of "owners"of a single property.

In this booklet the word "he" is used to include "she" and "they" (where there are joint owners or the owners are companies or other sorts of body). This booklet is about the Act, which is separate from planning or building regulations control.

You must remember that reaching agreement with the Adjoining Owner or  owners under the Act does not remove the possible need to apply for planning permission or to comply with building regulations procedures.  Conversley, gaining planning permission or complying with the building regulations does not remove the need to comply with the Act where it is applicable.

If you intend to carry out building work which involves one of the following categories:

• work on an existing wall or structure shared with another property ( section 2 of the Act).

• building a free standing wall or a wall of a building up to or astride the boundary with a neighbouring property (section 1 of the Act).

• excavating near a neighbouring buildiing(section 6 of the Act).

you must find out whether that work falls within the Act. If it does, you must notify all Adjoining Owners.

(The Party Wall etc.Act 1996 : Explanatory Booklet is © Crown copyright 2002.)

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The Fire Safety Order reforms the law relating to fire safety in non-domestic premises.  Specifically it replaces the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 and the Fire Precautions Act 1971.  It imposes a general duty to take such fire precautions as may be reasonably required to ensure that premises are safe for the occupants and those in the immediate vicinity.

By virtue of the Order, the responsible person is required to carry out a fire risk assessment of their premises.  This must be a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose ofidentifying the general fire precautions they need to take to comply with the requirements under the Order.

Although these requirements are applicable to premises whilst in operation, it would be useful for the designers of a building to carry out a preliminary fire risk assessment as part of the design process.  If a preliminary risk assessment is produced, it can be used as part of the Building Regulations submission and can assist the fire safety enforcing authority in providing advice at an early stage as to what, if any, additional provisions may be necessary when the building is first occupied.

Article 6 of the Order does exclude some premises such as certain mines, vehicles and land forming part of an agricultural or forestry undertaking.The Order applies to all non-domestic premises, which includes the common parts of block of flats and HMOs.

Guidance on the consultation procedures that should be adopted to ensure that the requirements of all enforcing authorities are addressed at Building Regulation Approval stage is contained in Building Regulation and Fire Safety - Procedural Guidance, published jointly by CLG and the Welsh Assembly Government. There may be other Statutes enforced by the local authority or the fire and rescue authority that may be applied to premises of specific uses once they are occupied.