Building control: Services we provide

We are determined to provide you with the very best service in building control. Whether you are a large developer undertaking a multi-million pound project or a homeowner carrying out alterations to your home - we are committed to assisting you in any way we can.

We recognise that all our customers have different needs and it will not be possible to satisfy all of these via a visit to this site. To make your building control experience as simple and easy as possible, we will continually update and improve these pages to help you.

As a valued customer of South Tyneside building control you are guaranteed to receive excellent service throughout the whole building control process including, preliminary discussions, the application process and site inspections.

• Primarily for commercial and larger residential schemes, extensive and timely pre-application advice at any stage to suit your needs
• Most useful in agreement of issues such as fire safety design, means of escape in case of fire and "access for all" issues
• Organisation of meetings between you, other council departments and the Tyne & Wear Fire Service

• Full technical assessment of your scheme normally within 15 working days from validation
• Application processed within 3 days of receipt if the application is completed correctly and written acknowledgement of receipt issued
• A highly competitive fee
• Receipt of electronic applications/plans
• Formal decision notice issued
• Full formal consultation process with external bodies - Tyne & Wear Fire Service, Northumbrian Water Ltd

• Guaranteed same-day site inspections when you contact us before 10am. You can request building work inspection online.
• Inspection Notification Framework available for each individual project.
• Qualified building control surveyors who will constantly be looking for cost effective solutions to regulatory challenges and who act with complete impartiality and flexibility.
• Extensive and unrivalled experience of local ground conditions and local issues on every conceivable type of project.
• Inspection of all on-going projects at least every 6 months, regardless of whether a specific request has been received and will notify you (or your builder) if there are any serious problems found in the work.
• Issue of formal completion certificate when your project satisfies building regulation standards.

Our commitment to you:

• All our building control surveyors are either professionally qualified (RICS or ABE) and/or have extensive experience. They regularly attend training seminars to make sure they are up to date with modern methods of construction and ever-changing legislation.
• We have a progressive approach to new materials and methods of construction, so we can help you to get the best possible value for money.
• We keep extensive records on every property/site in the borough - so future owners can confidently plan further work. This helps prospective purchasers make sure that work carried out in the past has been approved and inspected. This information can be analysed to give early warning of any potential problems particularly in relation to ground conditions.
• We liaise closely with Building Control sections in other Councils to share knowledge, experience and maintain consistency.
• We can guarantee that we will be at your service for many years to come.
• We welcome and encourage customer feedback.

Building control performance standards

South Tyneside building control complies with this government initiative to regulate standards within the building control profession.