On site · High risk
Are building control inspections happening at the right times?
Certain stages must be seen before they are covered up.
- When it lands
- Foundations, drainage, structure, insulation, before completion.
- What it costs to get wrong
- Missed inspections can mean opening finished work back up, and no completion certificate for your file or your sale.
Building control inspections are hold points, not paperwork. Certain work must be seen before it is covered up, and if it is not, the only proof available is to uncover it.
Know the hold points
Typically: excavation before concrete, foundations, damp proof course, drainage before backfill and on test, structural elements, insulation before covering, and a final inspection before completion.
Exact stages vary between authorities and approved inspectors. Ask for the list at the start and put it on the programme.
The floor that came back up
Underfloor insulation was covered before inspection. The inspector had no evidence it existed and required it exposed. Breaking out and reinstating cost around £2,800 and a fortnight — for a phone call that should have been made the day before.
Confirm who books them
Usually the builder, but get it in writing, because when nobody is sure, nobody calls. Ask to be told when each inspection is booked and ask for the outcome afterwards.
Keep the record as you go
Inspection records, electrical and gas certification, and your own dated photographs of everything before it is covered. This is the file that produces your completion certificate at the end — and completion certificates are chased at the worst possible moment, when you are trying to sell.
Why this one matters
Building control protects you, not the builder. The certificate at the end is what a future buyer's solicitor will ask for, and it cannot be produced retrospectively without evidence.
Do this week
- Get the inspection schedule from your building control body.
- Confirm in writing who books each one.
- Start a photo record of work before it is covered.
The realistic choices
Local authority building control
Traditional route. Book inspections in advance.
Approved inspector
Private, often more responsive. Same legal standing.
What good looks like
- A booked inspection list you can see
- Photographic evidence of anything covered up between visits
Questions worth asking
- Which inspections are still outstanding?
- Who is booking them — you or us?
From real projects
The floor that came back up
Underfloor insulation was covered before the building control inspection. The inspector had no evidence it existed and required it exposed. Breaking out and reinstating the screed cost £6,800 and three weeks of drying time.
The lesson: If nobody official saw it and nobody photographed it, it did not happen.
Putting it into practice
What this decision should leave behind
The steps to work through, the paperwork worth keeping and the questions to send your builder today.
- · Know the hold points
- · Confirm who books them
- · Keep the inspection record
- · Template: Inspection schedule request
- · Paperwork: Building control inspection records
- · Paperwork: Electrical and gas certification
- · Paperwork: Photographs of covered-up work
Next decision
What counts as finished?