Customer charter
Our building control services help you build projects that comply with all building, health and safety, and environmental regulations, in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.
We put you at the heart of everything we do. We take the time to understand your requirements, listen to feedback and do all we can to provide an exemplary service.
This page explains how the building control service works, including:
- our services
- how we can help your project
- our commitment to customers
- our service level agreements
If there is anything you want to learn more about, please get in touch using the contact details at the end.
Helping you with your building project
We work with homeowners, builders, architects and agents to provide full building project support, from start to finish. This ensures your project completes quickly, cost-effectively and complies with all regulations.
We’re members of Local Authority Building Control (LABC), which guarantees you advice that is:
- fast - we’re based in the local area, and we set competitive timelines - helping you to avoid project delays and associated costs
- impartial - we’re independent, impartial and accountable, working in the sole interests of the local community and economy
- expert - we are the only fully national service and have unrivalled technical and local expertise
This means you can complete your project with expert, responsive and cost-efficient support from someone you trust.
Our services
Our services include:
- pre-application advice - free pre-application advice to save you time and money before starting (1 hour)
- expertise - you have full access to practical and responsive advice from technical and local experts, including surveyors, agents and architects
- council connections - we involve other council departments in your project, including planning, conservation, highways, environmental health, and fire and rescue, to help you avoid extra consultancy fees
- full plan service - you get confirmation of plan approval, so you can start specifying materials, co-ordinating deliveries and organising contractors with confidence
- full site inspections - we conduct site inspections to ensure your work meets all building, health and safety, and environmental regulations
- completion certification – we issue a completion certification that proves your building work is safe, well-built, energy-efficient and legally compliant
Other services include:
- energy calculations
- acoustic testing
- fire engineering
- training with LABC
- CPD seminars
Our commitment to customers
Your happiness and satisfaction are important to us, which is why we commit to these values:
Honesty
We act with honesty and integrity and treat all customers fairly, objectively and respectfully. All decisions are made on the merits of the application and under the relevant legislation.
Accessibility
We make all information clear, concise and easy to access. We welcome all feedback and we work to improve our service continuously.
Transparency
We publish relevant and appropriate information about applications and key decisions on our website, and we always ensure customers understand what’s happening.
Responsiveness
We provide timely advice and decisions and work hard to improve the speed and quality of our service. We are here to help you; if you feel that we haven’t, let us know immediately.
Effectiveness
We provide accurate and practical advice to all and offer a consistent service that you can trust.
Our service level agreement
To ensure you receive an outstanding service from building control, we commit to these service levels:
- telephone calls - we answer phone calls within 4 rings and respond to voicemails within 1 working day
- emails and letters - we immediately direct emails to the right person and respond within 10 working days to letters
- applications - we validate complete building regulation applications within 48 hours of receipt (Monday to Friday)
- site inspections - for site inspections received by 10 am, we aim to carry them out on the same day and no later than 24-hours (Monday to Friday)
Compliments, comments and complaints
We welcome all feedback through your building control contact or the council’s main feedback channel
All decisions made by Redbridge are based on the relevant legislation, guidelines, professional judgment and internal procedures.
If you feel a decision was made without due care and consideration, please contact us so we can investigate.
Getting in touch
If you want to know more about any of our building control services, get in touch – we’re ready to help:
