Lewisham building regulations guide
Building regulations in Lewisham work the same way as anywhere in England: you submit construction drawings, a surveyor checks them, and work is inspected as it goes. On a full plans application the authority must notify its outcome within five weeks of receipt, unless a longer period is agreed in writing.
Fixed fee from £545 drawings + £200 survey (£745 total) · all prices
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Step one: decide how to apply
There are two routes. A full plans application sends the drawings and specification for checking before work begins. A building notice skips that check and relies on inspections once the builder is on site.
For a rear extension, loft or anything with a new beam, we draw for the full plans route, because a fault found on paper costs far less than one found in a finished wall. Our guide to building control in London compares the two in more detail.
Step two: know the clock
Regulation 14A(6) of the Building Regulations 2010 gives the authority five weeks from receipt to notify the outcome of a full plans application, or a longer period agreed in writing. The regulation is on legislation.gov.uk.
Plan your builder's start date around that, and around the separate planning decision if you need one. The Lewisham floor plans page covers the drawings for the planning side.
Lewisham made 578 householder planning decisions in the four quarters from 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2, including prior approvals (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).
Step three: check for exemptions
Some small buildings need no building regulations approval. Under Schedule 2, a detached building with a floor area not exceeding 15m2 and no sleeping accommodation is exempt (Class 6). So is a ground-level conservatory, porch, covered yard or covered way, or a carport open on at least two sides, when its floor area does not exceed 30m2 (Class 7).
These exemptions come with conditions. If a garden room is going to be slept in, it is not covered by Class 6.
Lewisham's planning context
Lewisham made 578 householder planning decisions in the four quarters from 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2, including prior approvals (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2). The national register carries 30 conservation-area entries for the borough (our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset), and Lewisham's own conservation area map is the place to see whether your street is one of them.
Those numbers belong to planning, not building control, but they show the volume of householder proposals in the borough and how many designated areas a design may have to respect. Our Lewisham side return extension drawings page shows what that stage needs for one common project.
What our drawings cost
Building regulations drawings from £745 as a fixed fee. See the pricing page, or the building regulations drawings hub for the wider service.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| five weeks | Building Regulations 2010 reg 14A(6): authority must notify the outcome of a full plans application within five weeks of receipt, or a longer period agreed in writing (source wording: five weeks) | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 15m2 | Building Regulations 2010 Sch 2 Class 6 para 3: exempt detached building with floor area not exceeding 15m2 and no sleeping accommodation (source wording: 15m2) | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 30m2 | Building Regulations 2010 Sch 2 Class 7: exempt ground-level conservatory, porch, covered yard or covered way, or carport open on two sides, with floor area not exceeding 30m2 (source wording: 30m2) | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 578 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 30 | Our analysis of MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area and article-4-direction datasets (bulk snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
| £745 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for building regulations drawings, from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |
Questions people ask
Does Lewisham Council do building control?
What is a full plans application?
Do I need building regulations drawings for a garden room?
Can you draw floor plans before the full set?
Photographs: Chris Whippet (CC BY-SA 2.0); Peikko (Public Domain); W.carter (CC0).
