Building Regulations drawings in Westminster
Building work in the City of Westminster must meet the Building Regulations, which are separate from planning, and a full plans application is answered within five weeks unless you agree longer. We prepare the drawings and notes for that application from £745, covering the details building control checks.
Fixed fee from £545 drawings + £200 survey (£745 total) · all prices
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The five-week clock and what starts it
Under regulation 14A of the Building Regulations 2010, the authority must notify the outcome of a full plans application within five weeks of receiving it, or a longer period agreed in writing (the regulation on legislation.gov.uk). The five weeks begin with the date the authority receives the application, so send the complete set at the outset.
Whether the application goes to the council or to a private registered building control inspector is your choice. Our London building control guide sets out how the two routes differ.
A pre-submission checklist for a Westminster home
Before you submit, check the set holds the following: a site plan and floor plans for every level, sections through new floors, stairs and roof, a structural scheme with engineer's calculations where the work is structural, drainage layouts, a specification covering insulation and ventilation, and fire safety notes for escape routes and doors.
Flats and older houses add questions of their own, such as party structures and escape through shared stairs. Our Building Regulations drawings page shows the package we draw for those, and the planning versus building regulations comparison explains why one approval never replaces the other.
Westminster decided 366 householder applications in the four quarters to 2026 Q2, a figure that includes prior approvals (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).
Westminster in numbers
Westminster decided 366 householder applications in the four quarters to 2026 Q2, a figure that includes prior approvals (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).
The national planning data platform holds 56 live conservation-area records for Westminster (our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset). Those are register entries, so check Westminster City Council's conservation area map for your own building. Planning consent is a separate approval from Building Regulations, so start with our Westminster planning permission page if you have not yet checked.
Buildings the Regulations leave alone
Schedule 2 exempts some small structures. A detached building of up to 15m2 with no sleeping accommodation qualifies, as does a ground-level conservatory, porch, covered yard or carport open on two sides of up to 30m2 where the class conditions are met (Schedule 2). In a mews yard or a rear garden, check a planned structure against the class conditions before treating it as exempt.
What it costs
A Building Regulations drawing set starts from £745. See the pricing page for the full fixed-fee list, then use the form on this page with your address.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 366 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 56 | 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 |
| 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 |
| £745 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for building regulations drawings, from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |
Questions people ask
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Photographs: John Lord (CC BY-SA 2.0); Richard Symonds (CC BY-SA 4.0); Marathon (CC BY-SA 2.0); John Lord (CC BY-SA 2.0); No Swan So Fine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
