The notice before starting
For the ordinary local-authority route, the person carrying out the work must give the required notice of intention to start at least two working days beforehand. The private-approver regulations contain corresponding notification arrangements. Agree who will send the notice and keep evidence that it was received. [1] [2]
An inspection booking is a separate practical requirement. Salford's guidance makes clear that submitting a notice does not automatically book an inspection. Tell the builder which stages must remain available for inspection and who is responsible for contacting the building control body. [3]
Statutory commencement is more than starting activity
The rules introduced a defined construction threshold for commencement. For a horizontal extension, this involves completion of the sub-surface structure, including the relevant foundations, basement and ground-floor structure. Other categories of work have different tests; the guidance describes a 15% threshold for other building work. [1]
Clearing the site, ordering steel or digging a trial hole should not therefore be assumed to preserve an approval. Ask the designer and building control body to identify the applicable commencement test and how reaching it will be evidenced. [1]
The required notification that statutory commencement has been reached is due within five working days of reaching that point. Keep this distinct from the earlier intention-to-start notice. [1] [2]
When an approval can lapse
Under the post-October 2023 arrangements, relevant approvals or notices lapse if the work has not commenced within three years. Transitional provisions and the applicable route must be checked for an older application; do not apply the current procedure retrospectively without checking the dates. [1]
This is building regulations commencement, not the planning-law test for implementing planning permission. Both systems may affect the same project, but satisfying one should not be assumed to satisfy the other. [4]
Higher-risk work and future standards
Higher-risk projects have their own BSR approval and notification procedures. Do not use the ordinary two-working-day starting arrangement as a complete checklist for those projects. [5]
Energy and ventilation transition rules introduce another date check. The 2026 circular provides transitional protection for qualifying non-higher-risk submissions made before 24 March 2027 where the work reaches the defined commencement threshold before 24 March 2028. The project team should confirm the exact applicable test rather than assume a planning submission fixes the building regulations edition. [6]
Maintain a short chronology of submission, acceptance, notices, inspections and commencement evidence. That makes the applicable rules and the project's remaining deadlines much easier to establish.