Flat roof building regulations

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Is flat roofing notifiable to building control?

A good resource to answer this question can be found at The Planning Portal.

If you want to carry out repairs on or re-cover less than 25 per cent of the area of a pitch or flat roof, you will not normally need to submit a building regulations application. You will need approval, however, if:

• You carry out structural alterations
• The performance of the new covering will be significantly different to that of the existing covering in the event of a fire
• You are replacing/ repairing more than 25 per cent of the roof area, in which case, the roof thermal insulation would normally have to be improved.

In our experience you just need to call your LABC office and they are happy to confirm.

We’ve had confirmation from our LABC on the following statement being accurate:

Flat roof being re-covered: As of the 15 July 2010 the definition of ‘renovation’ in regulation 2(1) of the Building Regulations 2010 has been amended. This means for example, that the repair of a flat roof by the addition of an additional layer to the existing roof by the laying of a liquid sealant to the roof surface or a new layer of felt will no longer fall within the definition of ‘building work’ in regulation 3(1) of the Building Regulations as it is a repair not a renovation and as such will no longer be notifiable building work.

Please note that this change does not affect the current position in relation to pitched roofs or where flat roofs are altered by the removal and replacement of a layer or layers.

However where a roof is altered by the removal and replacement of at least 25 per cent of a layer or layers this work is considered to be a renovation and is therefore classed as building work which remains notifiable and requires a Building Regulations application to be deposited unless your chosen contractor is registered with Competent Roofer the competent person scheme for roofing works in which case you will not need to apply for permission from Building Control as the installer will notify their competent person scheme provider, who will in turn notify us.