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Under Building Regulations, you must notify the Council at the stages of the building work shown below.  The main purpose of these notes is to indicate the extent and standard of work required in order that the Building Control Officer may accept it.  Please note that the Building Act allows a Building Control Officer to inspect any part of the building works, and he is therefore not restricted to only the following stages:

1. Commencement (48 hours before commencing). 
An inspection will usually only be made at this stage, when it is envisaged that any of Stages 2 to 7 will not be relevant.  The Building Control Officer may also use this opportunity to discuss the proposals with the Applicant/Owner or Builder.

2. Excavation for foundations (24 hours before concreting).
The depth of excavation will be determined by the type of subsoil.  The width of excavation is also determined by the subsoil type and by the anticipated loads imposed by the building work.  For inspection purposes, all excavations should be clear of all debris and water, and should be level.  Variations in subsoil types may necessitate reinforcing.  Where strip foundations are stepped, the length of overlap should equal 300mm or the depth of step, whichever is greater.  The subsoil below the proposed floor may also be inspected at this stage.

3. Foundations (24 hours before covering).
The Building Control Officer should be able to see the first courses of masonry, laid on the concrete foundations before any material is back filled either side, in order that he may determine that the foundations are loaded correctly and that the correct concrete and masonry have been used. Please note that, unless radon protection measures are shown on the approved plans, all sumps and ducts will need to be inspected at this stage.

4. Materials laid oversite (24 hours before covering).
Where insulation is not intended to be used under the floor, any damp proof membrane should be in place, on a well compacted hard-core base which has been suitably blinded (please note that the main purpose of blinding is to protect the membrane from sharp aggregate and where the aggregate contains sufficient fines, additional blinding is not required).  Where insulation is to be used below the floor slab, care must be taken to ensure that the hard-core is level and even, otherwise voids would exist between the rigid insulation board and the undulations in the hard-core.  The insulation can usually be placed above or below the membrane.  However, placing it below the membrane eliminates the need for blinding to the hard-core and avoids problems with the floating of the insulation.  The depth of the proposed concrete slab is also checked at this stage.

5. Damp proof courses (24 hours before covering).
For this inspection, the Building Control Officer should be able to see the Damp Proof Course to every wall with the first few courses laid above it. He will also check that any wall cavities extend to the correct depth below the Damp Proof Course and that the Damp Proof Membrane and/or tanking is lapped well under the DPC material.

6. Drains before back-fill (24 hours before covering).
The whole drainage system (both foul and surface water) should be visible - including all gullies and connections - in order that the following may be checked:  pipe material; pipe bedding; straightness; adequacy of fall; adequacy of connections between drain lengths.

7. Covering of drains.
It is advisable that you maintain the drains on air or water test, whilst they are being back filled in order that any leakages, caused by back filling, may be detected.  The Building Control Officer would prefer to see the system subjected to an air or water test after the drainage trenches have been completely filled in, i.e. when the drains are operating under normal working conditions.  N.B. This inspection may be undertaken during the completion and/or occupation inspections.

8. Construction before plasterboarding.
In addition to stages 1 to 7 and 9 to 10, if the work is being carried out under the Building Notice procedure, or it has not been fully approved under the Full Plans procedure, it is important that you notify Building Control to inspect the work at this stage. Items of construction  include all new walls, floors, lintels, roofs, bracing and strapping and electrical work.

9. Occupation before completion (not less than 5 days before occupation).
If you wish to occupy/use the building before it is fully complete, the Building Control Officer will need to carry out an inspection similar to 8 above, so that the work’s fitness for use may be determined.

10. Completion of works (not more than 7 days after completion).
When all building works have been completed, the Building Control Officer will inspect them, to ensure that they:
 (a) have been carried out as per the deposited plans and/or
 (b) are in compliance with the Regulations.  The Building Control Officer will need to have full access to the outside and inside of the building and where  necessary, to the inside of the roof space, if an access hatch has been provided (it would speed up the inspection process if you were to have a ladder  on site for this purpose).
It is normal for other intermediate inspections to be carried out, for example to inspect structural steelwork and floor/roof timbers. The Building Control Officer will be able to advise you if this is necessary. The Building Control Officer may also call at other times to check the work in progress.
The period of time in brackets is the amount of notification that a person undertaking the works is legally obliged to give the council. In practice it is generally possible for an inspection to be carried out on the same day that notification is given, provided that it is received before 10:30am that day.