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Full Plans Application

The Full Plans Route
Building over or close to public sewers
Full Plans Application Checklist

Full Plan Route frequently asked questions

The Full Plans Route

This is the most popular route our applicants choose to follow.

A Full Plans Application requires you to provide a detailed set of plans and specifications/ calculations for the work (TWO copies for works to dwellings and FOUR copies for all other works).

We will acknowledge your application within two working days, letting you know if for any reason the application is incomplete.

We will check the plans and details as quickly as possible and let you know if there are any problems or further information is required. Our performance target endeavours to ensure that we will check and reply within 10 working days. We will give you ample time to respond.

As soon as all the outstanding issues have been resolved, we will approve your application. If you are not able to supply all the information, conditions will be attached to the approval notice, these will again give you ample time to resolve the conditions.

We will only reject your application, if at the end of the statutory time limit ( 5 weeks or two months with your agreement ) either we have not received a response to our comments or it shows major contraventions of the Building Regulations, and these have not been resolved by discussion.

The principal advantage of this method is that once your design has been approved, you may work to those drawings without fear of contravening the Regulations during the building process. You will be able to proceed with confidence. A copy of the approved plan should be passed to the builder to work from.

We will carry out inspections of the building work once it is in progress. We will explain about the notification procedures that you will need to follow at various stages of the work.

Once you have completed the work and a satisfactory completion inspection has been undertaken, we will issue a Completion Certificate to confirm that the works comply with the Building Regulations. Full details of our site inpection procedure are outlined on our Site Inspection web page.

A further point to bear in mind is that, if a disagreement arises, the ' Full Plans procedure ' enables you to ask for a ' Determination ' from the Department of Communities and Local Government ( DCLG ) formally the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Building Over or Close to Public Sewers

In the Royal Borough area the adopted sewers are the responsibility of Thames Water.

If you intend to build over or within 3m of a sewer owned by Thames Water ( a Public Sewer ), you will need written agreement from Thames Water to do so.You are also unable to use the Building Notice procedure where this situation arises.

It is not always a requirement to enter into an agreement with Thames Water. It is, however, still necessary for the fact that the sewer has been built over to be registered for land charges purposes.

Thames Water may specify certain conditions regarding the building work as part of the agreement, and will require the payment of a fee to cover maintenance costs etc.

The Council will automatically inform Thames Water when it receives an application that shows a proposed building or extension over or near a public sewer. Thames Water will write direct to the building owner seeking details and the payment of a fee for the registration process.

For more information regarding Public Sewers, please contact :-

Thames Water Services Ltd
Developer Services Waste
1st Floor Rose Kiln Court
Rose Kiln Lane
Reading RG2 0HP
Tel: 0845 850277
Fax: 0118 9236613 or
Email: developer.services@thameswater.co.uk
Alternatively, please visit their website at : http://www.thameswater.co.uk/.

Full Plans Application Checklist

Please remember to provide:-

Two copies of the detailed drawings of the proposed building work. Four copies will be required if the work includes any use other than a dwelling. The plans should be drawn to a scale of not less than 1:100. They should include existing and proposed floor plans, sectional drawings through the proposed work, existing and proposed elevations.
Two copies of a site or location plan drawn to a scale of not less than 1:1250 which shows the proposal, site boundaries, and the position of public sewers.
Two copies of any specification which accompanies the drawings.
Two copies of any structural design calculations.
A completed application form. We have provided a copy of our Full Plans Application Form for you to download.
The correct Plan Charge. We have included our General Guide to Charges to help. Alternatively contact Building Control for advice.

In summary the benefits of using the Full Plans Route are :-

Advice will be given on compliance with the Building Regulations at the design stage of the project.

A detailed report will be given within 10 working days of you making an application. This will identify any aspects of the design which may need to be revised to comply with the Building Regulations.
A formal approval will be issued once the proposals comply with the Building Regulations . This will help when securing finance for your proposals.
Your builder will be able to provide an accurate estimate of the cost of the work.
Costly delays will be avoided as your builder can work to approved drawings.
You and your builder are reassured that the work shown on the approved plans comply with the Building Regulations.
As long as work is carried out in line with the approved drawings, and all the relevant inspections have been made, you WILL get a Completion Certificate.

Full Plans Application Form

To follow the Full Plans procedure, please download and complete our Full Plans form.

Full Plans Application Form (pdf) 225kb