Written for general builders, groundworkers, carpenters and joiners, roofers, plasterers, bricklayers and kitchen and bathroom fitters in the UK, from one-van firms to small main contractors.
The short version
- Settle the building control route first.In England: council building control, a registered approver or a competent person scheme. Scotland needs a building warrant before work.
- Check whether party wall notices are needed.England and Wales: shared wall work, or digging below next door's foundations nearby, can need notice well ahead. Start only after consent or an award.
- Write the phase plan and check for asbestos.Every job needs a phase plan and welfare from day one. Presume asbestos in pre-2000 buildings until a survey shows otherwise (As of Oct 2026).
There is no general licence to trade as a builder in the UK. What the law controls is competence, restricted work and sign-off, and most of it has to be in place before the first day on site. Miss it and the job can be stopped by enforcement, or the client can face a neighbour's injunction.
Building control
In England, before notifiable work starts, choose a route: a full plans application or building notice to the local authority's building control, an initial notice from a registered building control approver, or self-certification through a competent person scheme. At the end you need a completion certificate (local authority) or a final certificate (approver). Since 1 October 2023 every contractor must have the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for its part, and plan, manage and monitor the work so it complies, and a homeowner client's Building Regulations duties pass to the contractor. Gas work is only for Gas Safe registered businesses, and notifiable electrical work in dwellings in England and Wales goes through a competent person scheme or building control: never certify another trade's work, subcontract it and keep the certificate. Contravening the Building Regulations can bring an unlimited fine and, on indictment, up to 2 years' imprisonment. As of Oct 2026.
Building Regulations 2010, including Part 2A; Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 reg 3; Building Act 1984 s.35
Wales has made its own Building Regulations and Approved Documents, so check the Welsh version before quoting a requirement there. In Scotland you need a building warrant before work and an accepted completion certificate after. Planning permission is a separate question, and enforcement on it stops the job too.
Party walls (England and Wales)
The building owner serves notice 1 month before line-of-junction work and 2 months before work to a party structure. Excavation needs notice 1 month ahead only where it goes below the neighbour's foundations within 3 m, or cuts the 45-degree plane from them within 6 m: distance alone does not trigger it. No consent within 14 days starts the dispute procedure. Start the work only after consent or an award. As of Oct 2026.
Party Wall etc. Act 1996 ss.1, 3 and 6
CDM, the phase plan and the F10
In Great Britain, CDM applies to all construction work, homeowner jobs included. Every project needs a construction phase plan, in proportion to the risk, before the site is set up, and welfare from day one: toilets, washing, drinking water and a rest area. On a homeowner's job the client's duties pass to you as the contractor, or to the principal contractor where there is more than one contractor. Notify HSE on form F10 before work starts if it will last more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at the same time, or exceed 500 person days. Northern Ireland has its own CDM Regulations (2016), with the same notification thresholds but notice to HSENI. As of Oct 2026.
CDM 2015 (SI 2015/51) regs 3, 6, 7 and 12, Sch 2; CDM Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (SR 2016/146) reg 6
Asbestos
Presume asbestos in buildings built before 2000 until a survey shows otherwise, and get a refurbishment and demolition survey before work that disturbs the fabric. Licensable work is for a licensed contractor only, notified 14 days ahead, and anyone liable to disturb asbestos needs awareness training. Northern Ireland has its own asbestos regulations (2012). As of Oct 2026.
Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 regs 5, 9 and 10; HSE guidance HSG264; Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (SR 2012/179)
On site: what inspectors look for
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply wherever a fall could cause injury. The 2 m figure appears only in the scaffold inspection rules.
- Scaffold platforms from which someone could fall 2 m or more are inspected after erection, at least every 7 days and after anything affecting stability, with a written report. Keep the scaffolder's handover certificate.
- Silica dust: use on-tool extraction or water suppression plus face-fit-tested masks. HSE inspection campaigns target dust on refurbishment sites.
- Excavations: a competent person inspects before each shift and after anything affecting stability.
- RIDDOR: report deaths and specified injuries (a fracture other than to fingers, thumbs and toes, for instance) without delay, and over-7-day injuries within 15 days. Keep the accident book.
- Waste: register to carry construction waste where your nation requires it, including your own, and keep a waste transfer note for every load for 2 years.
- CSCS cards are not a legal licence. Whether you need one is set by the client or the site rules.
If asbestos turns up behind boarding mid-job, stop, keep everyone out, do not disturb it, tell the client in writing, arrange a survey and licensed removal if needed, and price the delay and extra work as a variation.
Asked in Greymill
Your client is mostly right: a homeowner's Building Regulations and CDM (construction health and safety) duties pass to you. But your client, as building owner, serves the party wall notices.
1. Building control: choose your route before work starts, with the council or a registered approver.
2. Party wall notices: 2 months before work to the party wall. 1 month for the footings, but only if they go below next door's foundations within 3 m, or cut the 45-degree plane from them within 6 m (As of Oct 2026). Start only after consent or an award.
3. Construction phase plan, plus toilets, washing, drinking water and a rest area from day one.
4. Asbestos: built before 2000, so presume it is there until a survey shows otherwise. Get a refurbishment and demolition survey before disturbing the fabric.
No F10 (the HSE notice) needed: about 200 person days with four on site is under the thresholds.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Rules & Licensing works it through for your business.
I run a construction or building business in the UK. I am about to start [describe the job] on a [house, flat or commercial building] in [England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland], built around [year], for [a homeowner or a business]. It will take about [weeks] with up to [number] people on site. Tell me the building control route, whether party wall notices are needed, what my construction phase plan must cover, whether I need an asbestos survey or an F10, and what to have on file before day one.
More for construction and building in the UK
- Setting a day rate that still pays after holidays, rain days and the vanWork out what an hour of labour really costs you, then price for the margin you want, not a markup that looks like it.Read the lesson
- Busy on three jobs and still short for Friday's wagesWhy builders run out of cash while making a profit, and the weekly forecast, applications and retention ledger that close the gap.Read the lesson
- Quoting the wrong VAT rate on a building job and paying it out of my marginAs of Oct 2026, building work can be 0%, 5% or 20% VAT depending on what is being built, and the rate has to be settled before you quote.Read the lesson
- Homeowner or main contractor: the paperwork that decides whether I get paidA homeowner job runs on consumer law and a job for a business runs on the Construction Act, so the paperwork you need and the clauses to strike are different.Read the lesson
- My regular labour-only subbie looks more like an employee every yearCIS registration does not make someone self-employed. How to tell, what it costs if HMRC disagrees, and the checks builders skip when they take people on.Read the lesson
- Proving to homeowners, main contractors and councils that I am a safe pair of handsEach kind of client checks different proof: reviews and trust marks for homeowners, accreditation for main contractors, registration for public tenders.Read the lesson
- The main contractor has knocked thousands off my application without a proper noticeOn a construction contract a deduction needs a valid pay less notice served in time. Without one, the notified sum is due in full, and you have suspension, interest and adjudication behind you.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every construction and building lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- Building Regulations 2010 regs 12, 20; Part 3 (Building control, competence, cards and registrations)
- reg 3(3) (Building control, competence, cards and registrations)
- Sch 1 Part P; Sch 3 competent person schemes (Building control, competence, cards and registrations)
- Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (Building control, competence, cards and registrations)
- ss.9, 17, 19 (Building control, competence, cards and registrations)
- Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplemental Provisions) Regulations 2023 reg 2; Building Act 1984 s.35 (Building control, competence, cards and registrations)
- regs 5, 7 (Health and safety: construction phase plans, f10, CDM, height, asbestos, dust and RIDDOR)
- reg 12 (Health and safety: construction phase plans, f10, CDM, height, asbestos, dust and RIDDOR)
- reg 6(1) (Health and safety: construction phase plans, f10, CDM, height, asbestos, dust and RIDDOR)
- Sch 2 (Health and safety: construction phase plans, f10, CDM, height, asbestos, dust and RIDDOR)
- reg 12; Sch 7 (Health and safety: construction phase plans, f10, CDM, height, asbestos, dust and RIDDOR)
- regs 5, 9, 10; HSG264 (Health and safety: construction phase plans, f10, CDM, height, asbestos, dust and RIDDOR)
- regs 2 and 12; Sch 7 para 2 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- s.106(1)(a) (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- s.61 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Commencement and the Central Digital Platform (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Autoclenz v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41; Ready Mixed Concrete [1968] 2 QB 497 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- [2018] EWCA Civ 2448 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Building Act 1984 s.7 (approved documents: status in proceedings) (Read the user, law by nation and adjacent regimes)
- Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (Wales); transfer of functions 31 Dec 2011 (SI 2009/3019) (Read the user, law by nation and adjacent regimes)
- Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 (Read the user, law by nation and adjacent regimes)
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 1998 (Read the user, law by nation and adjacent regimes)
- SI 1997/274 (N.I. 1); amended by the 2011 Act (Read the user, law by nation and adjacent regimes)
- Sch 7A Group 7 (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- Limited companies (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- Notice 700/45 (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- reg 5 (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- reg 4(1)(a) (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- FFI (Hard cases: tax, people and site)