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Your legal responsibilities when you have building work done

When you pay a builder to work on your home, the law does not hand every duty to the builder. Some duties stay with you as the owner, whatever the builder promises. Some the law moves to the builder. And some things many people believe are law are not law at all.

This guide is general information about what the law says. It is not advice on your own situation. If a point matters to your job, speak to your council, a solicitor, a party wall surveyor or Citizens Advice.

It is written for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own planning and building rules, and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 does not apply there. In Scotland, for example, some work needs a building warrant from the council.

The short version

  • Planning permission. If your work needs it and goes ahead without it, the council can serve an enforcement notice on the owner and the occupier.
  • Building regulations. The builder must meet them, but the council can require the owner to put faulty work right.
  • Party wall notices. Giving them is the owner's duty, not the builder's.
  • Health and safety and building regulations duties. The law says the builder carries out a homeowner's CDM client duties and most building regulations client duties. Two building regulations duties stay with you: giving information and cooperating. In Wales you can also choose to take the duties on yourself.
  • Consumer rights. These are yours to use if the work is poor, late or not what was agreed.

Planning permission

Planning permission is permission from your local council (the "local planning authority") for certain building work, or for changing how a building is used. Some smaller projects do not need it because of what are called "permitted development rights". These rights have limits:

  • Flats. The rights for extending and altering a home are for a "dwellinghouse". The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 says that does not include a flat, or a building containing flats (article 2 and Schedule 2, Part 1). So flats, and maisonettes in a building containing flats, do not have them.
  • Removed rights. gov.uk says the rights "can be removed by the local planning authority, either by means of a condition on a planning permission, or by means of an article 4 direction".
  • Getting a binding answer. The way to settle whether proposed work is lawful without a planning application is a lawful development certificate from the council. Section 192(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 says the lawfulness of work covered by one "shall be conclusively presumed", unless something relevant changes before the work starts.

Whether your project needs permission depends on the work and the property, so check before you commit. The Planning Portal's common projects guides are a good place to start.

This section describes the law in England. Wales has its own planning process, which gov.uk links to.

Why it is your problem and not only the builder's. Section 171A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 says that carrying out development without the planning permission it needs, or not keeping to a condition of a permission, is a "breach of planning control". The council may then issue an enforcement notice, and section 172(2) says a copy is served "on the owner and on the occupier of the land". gov.uk says you "can be served an 'enforcement notice' ordering you to undo all the changes you have made. It's illegal to ignore an enforcement notice, but you can appeal against it."

Section 179 says that once the time the notice allows has passed, an owner who has not done what it requires commits an offence. There is a defence for an owner who did everything they could be expected to do.

A builder saying "I'll sort the planning" does not change who that falls on. So:

  1. Ask to see the planning permission before work starts. If you are told the work does not need permission, ask the council; for a binding answer, apply for a lawful development certificate.
  2. Read the conditions attached to the permission. Keeping to them is part of it.
  3. Keep copies with your house papers.

Listed buildings. Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 says no one may carry out, "or cause to be executed", works to demolish a listed building, or to alter or extend it in a way that would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, unless the works are authorised under the Act. Section 9 makes breaking that rule an offence. "Cause to be executed" reaches the person who has the work done, not only the person doing it. That Act's listing rules now cover buildings in England. Listed buildings in Wales come under separate Welsh law. Wherever you live, speak to your council before any work to a listed building.

Trees. Work to a tree protected by a tree preservation order can be an offence under section 210 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, for anyone who "causes or permits" it as well as the person doing it. The offence is not limited to felling: other work without consent, such as lopping, can also be an offence. For a tree in a conservation area, section 211 makes similar work an offence unless you gave the council notice first and then had its consent or waited six weeks. Ask the council before any work to a tree, including work the builder needs for access, scaffolding or foundations.

Building regulations

Building regulations are national minimum standards for building work, covering things such as structure, fire safety, drainage and energy use. "Building control" is the checking of that work by a building control body: your council's building control team, or a private registered building control approver.

gov.uk says: "You must check if you need approval before you construct or change buildings in certain ways." It describes these routes:

  • Full plans. Drawings are checked before work starts. A completion certificate usually follows within 8 weeks of completion if the work complies.
  • Building notice. For smaller projects only. Work can start 2 days after the notice, with no formal approval of plans.
  • Competent person scheme. A registered installer, for example of windows or boilers, certifies their own work, so you do not need approval yourself.
  • Regularisation. Approval afterwards for work done without consent. It comes from council building control only, and only for work carried out after 11 November 1985.

Prosecution, and putting it right. Section 35 of the Building Act 1984 says "A person who contravenes a provision of building regulations … commits an offence", and gov.uk says "The person doing the work could be prosecuted and fined". Separately, the owner can be made to put the work right.

Under section 36, where work breaks the regulations, the building control authority can serve a notice requiring the owner to take the work down or alter it so it meets them. If the owner does not do so within 28 days, or any longer time a court or tribunal allows, the authority can do the work and recover its reasonable costs from the owner. gov.uk: the building control body "could make you pay to fix faulty work."

  • How long. Section 36(4) says the notice cannot be given more than 10 years after the work was completed. That 10-year limit has applied in England since 1 October 2023 and in Wales since 1 July 2026; some older guides still say 12 months. If your work was finished before those dates, get advice on which limit applies.
  • Where building control approved the plans. Section 36(5) and (5A) say a notice cannot be given on the ground that the work breaks the regulations where two things apply: building control granted an application for approval, and the work was carried out in line with the approved plans and any requirement building control imposed. This does not apply to what the Act calls "higher-risk building work".

The completion certificate. At the end of the job, ask for the completion certificate from building control, or the certificate from the competent person scheme, and keep it. gov.uk says that without approval "you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you want to sell your home". A certificate is not the last word, though. Regulation 17(4) of the Building Regulations 2010 says a completion certificate "shall be evidence (but not conclusive evidence)" that the requirements it names have been met.

Client duties under the building regulations. The Building Regulations 2010 give the client for building work duties, including making suitable arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the project so the work meets the regulations. A "domestic client" is someone having work done that is not for their business. The rules for domestic clients differ between England and Wales.

  • England (regulation 11C). The duties in regulations 11A(1) to (3) (making and keeping those arrangements) and 11E(2) to (5) "must be carried out by":
  • the contractor, where there is only one; or
  • where there is more than one contractor, the principal contractor, or the principal designer if you and the principal designer agree in writing.
  • Wales (regulation 11T, in force since 1 July 2026).
  • Taking the duties on. A domestic client "may assign" the client duties to themselves or to someone else. The duties that can be assigned also include the principal designer's and principal contractor's duties to plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the design and the building work (regulations 11Z4 and 11Z5). That needs a written statement confirming the person "understands the duties" and "is able to carry out those duties", with the location of the work and the person's contact details.
  • Signing. The person taking on the duties signs the statement; if that is someone other than you, you sign it too.
  • Timing. For most projects the statement is given before the building work starts.
  • If no one is assigned. The duties fall to the contractor, where there is only one. Where there is more than one contractor, they fall to the principal contractor, or the principal designer if you agree that in writing.
  • Before you sign. Read any such statement carefully: signing one for yourself means you take those duties on, which can include the principal designer's and principal contractor's duties.
  • Duties that stay with you, in both countries. Regulations 11A(4) and (5) (England) and 11R(4) and (5) (Wales) are not moved to anyone else. You must give every designer and contractor the building information you have, or can reasonably get, as soon as practicable. You must also cooperate with others working on the project so they can carry out their duties.

Party walls: your duty, not the builder's

A "party wall" is, broadly, a wall on the boundary between your land and your neighbour's that forms part of a building or separates two buildings. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 also covers masonry garden walls standing astride the boundary, but not wooden fences. The Act applies in England and Wales only.

The Act puts the duty on the "building owner", which section 20 defines as "an owner of land who is desirous of exercising rights under this Act". That is you, as the person having the work done. Your builder is not the building owner unless they own the land.

If your work involves any of these, you must give your neighbour written notice first:

  • A new wall on the boundary: at least one month before (section 1).
  • Work to an existing party wall, such as cutting into it to take a beam for a loft conversion, raising it or cutting away a chimney breast: at least two months before (sections 2 and 3).
  • Digging near a neighbour's building: within 3 metres of it and deeper than its foundations, or in some cases within 6 metres, at least one month before (section 6).

Section 7(2) says the building owner must compensate the neighbour for loss or damage caused by work done under the Act. Party wall notices: what homeowners need to do covers the notices, your neighbour's 14 days, surveyors and costs.

Waste

gov.uk says that if you hire a tradesperson for construction or renovation work, "any waste they produce is classed as business waste", and "Your tradesperson is responsible for removing the waste and disposing of it correctly." Your own household waste, such as rubble from DIY, is different. If you give it to someone else to take away, you must take reasonable steps to make sure they are allowed to take it (Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34(2A)).

Health and safety on the job: CDM 2015

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, known as CDM, are the health and safety rules for building projects, and they apply to work on homes too. Regulation 2 makes you a "domestic client": a client "for whom a project is being carried out which is not in the course or furtherance of a business of that client".

Regulation 7(1) says that where the client is a domestic client, the client duties in regulations 4(1) to (7) and 6 must be carried out by:

  • the contractor, where there is only one contractor;
  • the principal contractor, where there is more than one contractor; or
  • the principal designer, where there is a written agreement that the principal designer will carry them out.

So CDM does apply to your project, and the law says your builder, or a principal designer who agrees in writing, carries out the client duties. Those duties include:

  • managing the project so the work can be done without risk to health or safety, so far as reasonably practicable, with welfare facilities for workers;
  • making sure a construction phase plan (a written plan for managing health and safety during the work) is drawn up before work starts;
  • telling the Health and Safety Executive about larger projects.

These come from regulations 4 and 6. Regulation 7(2) says that if a domestic client does not make the appointments CDM requires, the designer in control of the design stage is the principal designer and the contractor in control of the building work is the principal contractor.

What to ask your builder. These are sensible questions, not legal requirements:

  1. Will you be the only contractor, or will other firms work on the project, including any I hire myself?
  2. Who is carrying out the client duties under CDM and the building regulations: you, or a principal designer under a written agreement? (In Wales, also ask whether anyone expects you to sign a statement taking on the building regulations client, principal designer or principal contractor duties.)
  3. Can I see the construction phase plan before work starts?
  4. What welfare facilities, such as toilets and washing, will your workers use?
  5. If there is a health and safety file, when will I be given it?
  6. What information about the house and the work do you need from me?

Your rights as a consumer, in brief

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says every contract for a trader to supply a service to a consumer includes these terms:

  • the work is done with reasonable care and skill (section 49);
  • what the builder said or wrote about themselves or the work becomes a term, if you took it into account (section 50);
  • where no price was fixed, you pay a reasonable price and no more (section 51);
  • where no time was fixed, the work is done within a reasonable time (section 52).

Section 57 says a contract term cannot remove the builder's liability for reasonable care and skill.

You may have a 14-day right to cancel if you agreed the job with the builder at your home, or straight after they visited you. See Your right to cancel building work. If something goes wrong, see When building work goes wrong: your options.

What is not law

A cap on deposits. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 set no limit on how much deposit a builder can ask for, and we have found no other law that does. Figures you see, such as Citizens Advice's advice not to agree to more than 25%, are guidance.

For a contract agreed away from the builder's premises, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 do require you to be told about "the existence and the conditions of deposits" before you are bound (Schedule 2, paragraph (u)). See Deposits and stage payments.

A licence to be a builder. The Federation of Master Builders, a trade body, says: "There is no single qualification or licence somebody must hold to call themselves a builder in the UK." gov.uk says membership of a competent person scheme is voluntary. The checks are yours to make: see Before you hire a builder.

Insurance-backed guarantees and deposit insurance. An insurance-backed guarantee is backed by an insurance policy, so it can still be honoured if the builder stops trading. We have found no law that requires a builder to give one, or to insure your deposit. Some trade schemes set rules on these for their own members, but the rules differ and bind only those members. If a builder offers one, ask for the policy document and read who provides it and what it covers.

Common questions

My builder says they will deal with planning and building control. Is that enough? A builder can make applications and arrange inspections for you. But an enforcement notice is served on the owner and the occupier (section 172(2)), and a section 36 notice requires the owner to put the work right. Ask for a copy of each permission, approval or notice as it happens, and for the certificate at the end.

The work finished years ago. Can building control still act? The current limit for a section 36 notice is 10 years after completion. For work finished before the dates above, get advice. A completion certificate is evidence, but not conclusive evidence, that the work met the regulations (regulation 17(4)).

Is CDM my responsibility? Regulation 7 says a domestic client's CDM duties must be carried out by the contractor, the principal contractor, or the principal designer by written agreement. Ask which of them is doing it on your job.

Does my builder serve the party wall notice? The duty is the building owner's. A builder, architect or surveyor can prepare the notice, but it is given for you as the owner.

What our documents do not do

The Homeowner's Legal Responsibilities Checklist takes you through the questions in this guide and gives you space to record the answers and the papers you were given. It does not decide whether your project needs permission, approval or a notice, and it is not legal advice. What our documents can and cannot promise.

Quotations from gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Documents for this work