Business Policy

LBC Ltd Business Policy

LBC Ltd have committed by way of our Business Policy indicated below to support the Operational Standard Rules for our performance as a Registered Building Control Approver (RBCA). LBC Ltd will undertake a qualitative analysis of our building control service through our ISO9001 QMS assurances as a basis for our continuous improvement, which will follow the required standards and guidance for Building Control, benchmarked against the Operational Standard Rules Monitoring Arrangements.

“The duty of building control is to provide an independent third-party assessment of Building Regulations compliance through the checking of plans and site inspections as necessary. Building control bodies must take such steps as are reasonable to be satisfied, within the limits of professional skill and care, that the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations are achieved. With all building work, the owner and occupier of the property or land in question is ultimately responsible for complying with the relevant planning rules and building regulations. A building control body cannot provide a guarantee of compliance with the Building Regulations and the appointment of a building control body does not remove the obligation of the person carrying out the work to achieve compliance. As with all building work, the owner or occupier of the property or land in question should also ensure that all other necessary statutory permissions, i.e. Planning Consent, have also been granted. The inspections which building control bodies undertake should not be confused with full site supervision. Inspections are carried out at certain stages of the building work and these inspections are carried out to check, but not to guarantee, that the work complies with the Building Regulations. Final Certificates are therefore not a guarantee or a warranty for the building work that has been carried out. Approved Inspectors do not carry out a traditional ‘Clerk of Works’ service that monitors every stage of the construction process and, should you require this service, you may wish to appoint a qualified professional to undertake this function”.

1. Policy, performance and management systems

LBC Ltd shall create and publish a business policy. This provides a building control service to:

• Support customers
• Meet legal obligations in achieving compliance
• Comply with respective codes of conduct set out in the guidance
• Comply with the current Operational Standard Rules (OSR’s), OSR Monitoring Arrangements and other relevant standards.

To enable maximum effectiveness in achieving compliance of the building work., LBC Ltd has a formal documented ISO9001 Quality Management System, which, inter alia, provides for:

• Collection of evidence related to its performance in terms of service delivery;
• Measurement and monitoring of compliance or non-compliance of building work with the Building Regulations;
• Demonstration that Standards are being addressed and form an integral part of such management system;
• Annual review and analysis of performance to inform programmes for continuous improvement in service delivery and compliance with Building Regulations;
• The sharing of information and lessons learned which would be of benefit to other Building Control Bodies in recognising general areas of difficulty (or failure) in achieving compliance.

2. Resources

LBC Ltd deploys sufficient experienced and qualified staff, with competencies and classifications’ appropriate to the type (classification) of building control work undertaken and shall ensure that suitable arrangements exist for ‘Continuing Professional Development’ (CPD) and in-service training of its technical staff.

LBC Ltd continually monitor and allocate sufficient resources to discharge its duties, having regard to its current and future workload, complexity and location of work, and changes in Building Regulations, Approved Documents, and other recognised guidance.

3. Consultation

LBC Ltd will undertake all statutory consultations in a timely manner and the observations of consultees will be communicated to clients. We will also consider the benefit of undertaking additional consultation where appropriate.

4. Pre-application contact and provision of advice

LBC Ltd will have arrangements in place for contact with those proposing or carrying out building work before a formal application is received – where this is requested or would be beneficial to the functioning of the building control process. A duty officer type service is available whereby clients can call our office based technical teams to assist with enquiries.

LBC Ltd can establish a single point of contact to deal with both procedural and technical building control enquiries on individual projects. This shall be supported by team working within the LBC Ltd to ensure continuity throughout the construction project.

5. Assessment of plans

Where assessment of plans is undertaken, clear information will be communicated to the client in writing regarding:

• Any noted non-compliance with the Building Regulations
• Views of statutory consultees
• Conditions pertaining to the approval or passing of plans (where relevant)
• Remedies available in the event of a dispute over compliance.

6. Site inspection

Site inspection regime: LBC Ltd provides a site inspection plan within the ‘welcome’ pack matched project needs. Our site inspectors will also run through specific areas required for inspection.

Site inspection records: records of each inspection will be maintained. Records will identify the work inspected and any non-compliance noted at the time of the inspection. Where plans are not available for the work, these records will be more detailed.

Contraventions: details of non-compliant work (contraventions) will be communicated promptly and clearly in writing to the responsible person, identifying the contravention(s) and indicating any measure(s) believed to be necessary. Any mechanisms for appealing against or disputing a decision will be clearly made known to the responsible person.

Notification of consultees: During the inspection phase, LBC Ltd will ensure that all statutory consultees are notified of any significant departures from plans.

7. Communications and records

LBC Ltd will communicate with clients, consultees and others in writing.

All records relating to the building control service provided to individual projects is stored in a retrievable format electronically for a minimum period of 15 years. Arrangements shall be made for their transfer into safe keeping in the event of a Building Control Body ceasing trading.

8. Business and professional ethics

LBC Ltd and their professional consultants used in support shall observe best practice professional standards and business ethics expected of RBCA service providers.

9. Complaints procedure

LBC Ltd publishes and maintains an appropriate complaints procedure. If a person is dissatisfied with the Building Control service they receive they can request and follow our step by step complaints procedure. Additionally, where required, will include independent assessment through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and Building Safety Regulator (BSR).