Roofing and building work in Leeds: approvals, planning and who is listed

Two permissions, not one

gov.uk says building regulations approval is different from planning permission, and you might need both. Planning permission is about what may be built where: gov.uk says you will probably need it to build something new, make a major change to a building such as an extension, or change its use, and that if you do work without it you can be served an enforcement notice ordering you to undo the changes. Building regulations are the compulsory safety standards for design, construction and alterations, in Leeds City Council’s words. gov.uk says they cover construction, extensions and many alterations, that the person doing the work could be prosecuted and fined for not complying, that the council could make you pay to fix faulty work, and that without approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you sell your home.

In Leeds, both are the council’s: planning permission through its planning service, and building regulations approval through its Building Control team or a private registered building control approver. Leeds City Council says it is your responsibility to find out if you need planning permission, that some properties have had their permitted development rights removed or restricted, and that it runs a pre-application enquiry service and can issue a Lawful Development Certificate as proof that work did not need permission.

Re-roofing and roof repairs

Replacing roof coverings on pitched and flat roofs is on gov.uk’s list of work that may need building regulations approval; gutters and downpipes, and most repairs and maintenance, do not. The Planning Portal says you will not normally need a building control application to repair or re-cover an existing roof if less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected, but you will need approval if you exceed those limits, carry out structural alterations, use a covering that would perform significantly differently in a fire, or use a new covering material that increases the weight of the roof covering by 15 per cent or more. Replacing a covering with a different material, slate to tiles for example, is likely to need approval, and because a roof is a thermal element, re-covering it should include improving its insulation.

The Planning Portal says work to a roof that does not materially affect the house’s external appearance will usually not require planning permission, and that permitted development allows alterations such as rooflights if they project no more than 150 millimetres from the roof slope and no higher than the existing roof, with side-facing windows obscure-glazed. gov.uk lists two schemes authorised to self-certify the replacement of roof coverings, NAPIT and CompetentRoofer; a roofer registered with one tells the council about the work on your behalf and gives you a certificate, otherwise the application is yours.

Every roofer listed on Gablevale by the area it names, with the features its own website states: a guarantee offered, insurance stated, emergency call-outs.

Roofers in west Leeds: Armley, Bramley, Burley, Kirkstall and Pudsey

Roofers in the LS4, LS5, LS12, LS13 and LS28 postcode districts, which take in Armley, Bramley, Burley, Farsley, Kirkstall, Pudsey, Rodley and Wortley, in their own words.

Extensions: what permitted development allows

The Planning Portal says permitted development rights allow you to extend a house without applying for planning permission, provided specific limits and conditions are met; exceed them and householder planning permission is likely to be needed. The rules are for houses, not flats, and do not apply where a planning condition or an Article 4 direction has removed the rights. The main limits, as the Planning Portal summarises them:

• A single-storey rear extension may not extend beyond the rear wall of the original house by more than four metres for a detached house or three metres for any other house, and may not exceed four metres in height. Eight and six metres respectively are possible outside conservation areas and similar designated land, subject to prior approval: Leeds City Council says you must notify it before building a large single-storey extension of between four and eight metres on a detached house, or three and six metres on any other.
• Only half the area of land around the original house may be covered by extensions or other buildings; no extension may be higher than the highest part of the existing roof, or forward of the principal elevation; within two metres of a boundary the eaves may not exceed three metres.
• Materials must be of a similar appearance to those on the existing house. Extensions of more than one storey have tighter limits, and all side extensions of more than one storey need householder planning permission.
• Leeds City Council says a development adding more than 100 square metres of floorspace may have to pay the Community Infrastructure Levy, and that retrospective permission can be applied for but is not granted automatically.

Extensions and the Building Regulations

The Planning Portal says most extensions require approval under the Building Regulations, whatever the planning position, and that you must also find out whether the work falls within the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, which gov.uk’s explanatory booklet covers. Leeds City Council says you may need to give adjoining owners notice under the Act if you build on or at the boundary, work on an existing party wall or structure, or excavate near and below the foundations of a neighbouring building, and that boundary issues are a civil matter it cannot advise on.

gov.uk says there are two types of application. Full plans is the most thorough, with a decision within 5 weeks, or 2 months with your consent, and usually a completion certificate within 8 weeks of the work finishing. A building notice is for smaller projects only: you can start work 2 days after submitting it, but get no formal approval. Leeds City Council takes both by email or post, says a building notice cannot be used for commercial buildings, flats or work over or near a public sewer, and publishes its fees schedule. Its Building Control team says it inspects the work as it goes and issues a completion certificate once satisfied. Work done without approval can be regularised, gov.uk says, only by a local authority and only if it was done after 11 November 1985.

Every builder listed on Gablevale by the area it names, with the features its own website states. A builder that names no part of Leeds is listed across Leeds.

Windows, doors and the finishing trades

Replacing windows and doors is on gov.uk’s list of work that may need building regulations approval, unless an installer registered with a competent person scheme does it: gov.uk names Blue Flame Certification, CERTASS, Certsure, Fensa, NAPIT and ASSURE for replacement windows, doors, roof windows and rooflights in existing dwellings, and says an external door less than half glazed is exempt. gov.uk also says most repairs, replacements and maintenance work does not need approval, apart from heating systems, oil tanks, fuse boxes and glazing units, but that you must meet safety and energy efficiency standards even where no formal approval is needed; check with a building control body if you are not sure.

Joiners and carpenters, plasterers, window and door companies, and painters and decorators listed on Gablevale, by area, with the features each states.

Before you pay

Gablevale checks that every business listed is an active company on the Companies House register, and shows its number; it doesn’t check the work. Our guide to what to check before paying a tradesperson covers the company record, insurance, written quotes, the 14-day right to cancel a contract agreed in your home, and the register anyone taking waste away must be on. In short:

• Look the company up on the Companies House register, linked from every listing. gov.uk says the record gives the registered address, date of incorporation, current and resigned officers, previous names and any insolvency information, free.
• Ask for the quote in writing, saying what it covers. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says every contract to supply a service includes a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill.
• Ask to see the insurance certificate, and check its dates. A listing says “Insurance stated” only where the business’s own website says it is insured.