| AdminHistory | Introduction
Since its creation in 1965 the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council has been responsible under law for the regulation of new buildings and changes to existing sites. In the 1970s this function came under the Building Control Service managed by the Planning and Building Control Department. The Service was and still is responsible for authorising and approving the construction of new buildings, changes of use, alteration or conversion of existing buildings and ensuring that they meet the minimum standards of safety.
Building regulations
Specific aspects of safety are covered by the National Building Regulations, which cover structural safety, means of escape, fire safety, access for fire-fighting, sound transfer between dwellings, ventilation, conservation of fuel and power, heat producing appliances, access to and the use of building and domestic electrical installations. The operation of the Regulations takes place in a competitive commercial environment as 'Approved Inspectors' are able to provide a paid service for those wanting to carry out building work. The Building Control Service also responds to reports of alleged dangerous structures, taking appropriate action to remove immediate danger to preserve public safety. Further to this, Building Control is responsible for the street naming and numbering of the Borough, ensuring that all premises are correctly addressed.
Applications for building regulation approval can be in two forms:
Building Enforcement Notice: this tends to cover submissions for smaller building projects. It can be supplemented by construction information and building calculations and technical details. A Building Enforcement Notice is inspected by a Building Control officer at regular intervals. At the completion of the works, a Building Completion Notice is issued, which confirms compliance with building regulations.
Full Plans Approval: this provides more detail at the application stage. A Full Plans Approval is dealt with by Building Control as and when submitted, and further conditions can be imposed on an Approval requiring more details that need to be submitted at a later date. A Building Commencement Notice must be submitted and the works are inspected at regular intervals by Building Control or an 'Approved Inspector' to ensure that the works are being carried out in line with the approval note and the conditions attached to the approval.
'Approved Inspectors' are required to provide the Council with copies of decisions reached, Building Commencement Notices and Building Completion Notices. This is to ensure that the information is recorded and passed on to Land Charges and other relevant records held by the Council.
The building regulation specifications and procedures are correct at the time of writing (May 2020).
Regulating building control prior to 1965:
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets inherited building control functions from a number of predecessor bodies. Each of these local authorities had different and varying degrees of power regarding building work, planning and development, housing and related functions.
The Metropolis Management Act 1855 created the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW), a London-wide body that coordinated the construction and maintenance of the city's infrastructure through a series of 23 newly created vestries based on larger parishes and 15 district boards comprising groups of smaller parishes. Among the new vestries created by the 1855 Act were Poplar, All Saints, Limehouse and Whitechapel. The MBW was given some supervisory and coordinating powers over the vestries and district boards, which were made responsible for local drainage and for paving and lighting of streets, and it was given power to make, widen or improve streets and roads and to regulate the naming of streets and numbering of houses.
The Metropolitan Buildings Act 1855 gave the MBW power to appoint and dismiss district surveyors, to appoint a superintending architect of metropolitan buildings, and to modify the building regulations contained in the Act as might be necessary. The MBW's powers were extended through the introduction of several further Acts including:
- the Metropolitan Gas Act, 1860;
- the Thames Embankment Acts, 1862, 1863 and 1868;
- the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act, 1865;
- the Metropolitan Commons Act, 1866 (and subsequent amending Acts), and Acts relating to individual parks and open spaces;
- the Metropolitan Streets Act, 1867 (and subsequent Street Improvement Acts);
- the Metropolis Toll Bridges Act, 1877 (and other Acts relating to bridges);
- the Artizans Dwellings Act, 1875;
- the Public Entertainments Act, 1875.
When the MBW was replaced by the London County Council (LCC) in 1889 the district boards and metropolis local management vestries continued unaltered, but they in turn were abolished in 1900 by the terms of the London Government Act of the previous year. The boroughs created by that Act included the Metropolitan Boroughs of Poplar, Stepney, and Bethnal Green, which together covered virtually the same area as the district board of works had done. The LCC, alongside inheriting the responsibilities of the MBW, gained powers relating to city planning and council housing.
The LCC and the metropolitan boroughs were independent of each other and had complete jurisdiction over certain fields within their individual areas. There were, however, certain areas in which the LCC had full control and these were:
- sanctioning the raising of loans for housing, building, land purchase, street improvements and drainage;
- making byelaws (although the borough councils had to enforce the byelaws);
- approval of sewer plans;
- taking steps if the borough council was not fulfilling statutory obligations;
- control over grants.
The London Building Act 1894 gave the LCC responsibilities regarding the structure and material construction of buildings, building height (a limit of 80 feet was set), the amount of open space on the plot to be developed, the maintenance of party walls between two or more separate properties, temporary building, the formation, naming and numbering of streets, building and dangerous structures. The 1945 amendment to the Act included responsibilities regarding means of escape in case of fire, which ensured that the required minimum constructional and fire resisting standards applied to any building alterations and new buildings. Sites were inspected, and architects, surveyors and engineers were advised on a council's standards and when necessary recommended changes to be made. The Building Acts meant that it was necessary for the borough council to approve fire precautions and means of escape in the event of fire before construction could be started, and the Act of 1905 required submission by applicants for planning permission of relevant plans for inspection.
Developments and increasing transfer of powers since 1965:
Responsibilities under the Building Acts were passed on to the successor bodies when the LCC and metropolitan boroughs were dissolved. Through the passing of the Local Government Act in 1963, the Greater London Council (GLC) was established replacing the LCC. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council was created on 1 April 1965 under the same legislation, through the consolidation of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Stepney, Poplar and Bethnal Green.
The Local Government Act divided powers between the GLC and London borough councils. The boroughs were regulated by the Municipal Corporations Act 1882 and the Local Government Act 1933. Initially, the GLC had responsibility for the construction of houses and flats for council tenants, a function that was gradually transferred to the Borough Council from the mid-1970s. In 1986 the GLC was abolished, and any remaining relevant powers and active departmental registries of records were passed to the boroughs by the London Residuary Body (LRB). Non-current Building Act records and high-level decision-making in minutes were retained and transferred to the former GLC's Greater London Record Office (later known as the London Metropolitan Archives) managed the City of London Corporation.
Further Reading:
https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/planning_and_building_control.aspx [Last Accessed 14 May 2020]
https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Building_control_officer_BCO [Last Accessed 14 May 2020]
https://www.labc.co.uk/homeowners/a-to-z-building-control-glossary [Last Accessed 14 May 2020] |