What standard does building control follow in the UK?

The standard is the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214), made under the Building Act 1984, supported by the Approved Documents A to T and Approved Document 7. The regulations are the law and the Approved Documents are the official guidance on how to comply.

What are the Approved Documents?

The Approved Documents are the government's published guidance explaining one accepted way to meet each requirement in the Building Regulations. Each lettered Part covers a topic such as structure (Part A), fire safety (Part B), or energy efficiency (Part L). Following the relevant Approved Document gives you a presumption of compliance.

Which Approved Documents apply to a house extension?

Most extensions engage Parts A, B, C, F, G, H, K, L, M, and P, covering structure, fire safety, moisture, ventilation, sanitation, drainage, safety from falling, energy, access, and electrical safety. Approved Document 7 on materials and workmanship cuts across all of them.

What is Approved Document 7?

Approved Document 7 is the cross-cutting guidance on materials and workmanship, published under Regulation 7 rather than as a lettered Part. It requires materials to be fit for purpose and work to be carried out to a recognised standard, and it gives the inspector discretion to refuse sign-off on workmanship grounds even when every other Part is met.

What is the difference between the Building Regulations and the Approved Documents?

The Building Regulations are the legal requirements and state what a building must achieve, while the Approved Documents are guidance that explains how to achieve it. You can deviate from an Approved Document provided you can still demonstrate compliance with the underlying regulation by another route.

What changed in the building regulations in October 2023?

The October 2023 amendment (SI 2023/911) introduced a dutyholder regime that makes the homeowner a domestic client with legal duties, replaced the old full plans deposit with an application for building control approval, and changed the rules on when work is deemed to have commenced. The technical regulations themselves did not change.

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Phase 1 · Planning & Permissions · Task 16 of 17

The Standard Building Control Follows

The Building Regulations 2010 plus the Approved Documents are the standard your building control officer enforces. Here's the full map for an extension.

9 min readUpdated 2026Free with email

Three-layer regulatory stack diagram showing the bottom layer Building Act 1984 plus Building Regulations 2010 statutory instrument, the middle layer Approved Documents A through T plus AD 7 official guidance, and the top layer BS, EN, and NHBC technical standards, with a labelled arrow showing the BCO checks against the middle layer and a sub-arrow showing they drill down to the top layer when a Part is contested

Prerequisites

Complete this first

Building Control Notification

Most homeowners walk into their first building control meeting expecting a judgment call. The BCO will look around, decide if it feels right, and tick a box. That's not what happens. Building control is compliance against a published statutory framework. The standard is a single Act of Parliament, a single statutory instrument made under it, and a published library of official guidance documents you can read for yourself this afternoon.

Every Part. Every reference. Where each one bites in your build and which document the BCO has open on their tablet when they arrive on site.

What this guide covers

01Yes, There Is a Standard
02The Three Layers
03The Approved Documents at a Glance
04Approved Document 7: The Cross-Cutting One
05The Manual to the Building Regulations
06How to Use This Map for Your Build
07What Changed in October 2023 and April 2024
08Reference Resources

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