Home buyers get access to Building Control reports

From April, home buyers will be able to access Building Control reports for houses they have purchased.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has released a circular letter which notifies of a revised Building Control Performance Standard 7 due to come into force on 1 April 2017.

Standard 7, which covers communications and records, has two new requirements. Under the changes Building Control bodies will be required to provide site inspection records to the building owner, on request, for all building work that has been issued with a final/completion certificate or where an initial notice has been cancelled. They will be able to charge for this on a cost-recovery basis.

Until now the reports compiled during the building of new houses have been unavailable to the new purchaser. The reports detail the progress of the house at key build stages and include any defects identified by the independent professional approved inspector. Making these reports available will also highlight how many quality checks have been made and at what stage.