England’s new building-control charging regulations: November commencement, payment validity and refund safeguards

Read the regulation alongside the policy response

The government published its building-charges consultation response on 16 October 2026. The accompanying legal development is already more than a proposal: the Building (Local Authority Charges and Amendments Relating to Charging) (England) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1094, were made on 14 October and laid before Parliament on 15 October.

Regulation 1 brings most provisions into force 22 days after laying, which is 6 November 2026. Regulation 11 has separate commencement dates: 24 March 2027 generally and 24 September 2027 for higher-risk buildings. The instrument extends to England and Wales but applies to England. These distinctions matter to project budgeting and should not be lost in a headline about UK-wide immediate fees.

Charges must follow a published local scheme

Under regulations 3–5 of SI 2026/1094, local authorities recover charges through published schemes. The framework links charges, across financial years, to the costs of chargeable functions and advice, including specified overheads. It also requires financial reporting and advance publication of schemes or amendments. It does not set one identical national price for every project.

A developer should identify the correct authority and scheme, the function being charged and the assumptions used to calculate the amount. Project complexity can affect the work required. A quotation should therefore be read with its scope, possible supplementary charges and refund provisions, rather than treated as an unrestricted commitment that every later regulatory step is included.

Non-payment can affect procedural validity

Regulation 6 identifies who must pay and when. It attaches validity consequences to specified unpaid submissions, and amendments also address non-payment as a ground for rejecting relevant notices and certificates. The precise document matters: an application, building notice, regularisation request and registered building control approver submission do not all operate identically.

For a project team, responsibility should be allocated before submission. Keep the payment reference, amount, date and the authority’s acknowledgement with the filed document. A contractor saying that a fee was “included” in its commercial price does not prove the authority received payment. Contractual allocation of the cost and statutory responsibility for payment should be reconciled.

Refunds and transition are part of the legal package

Regulation 7 provides specified refunds, including where required decision notices are not given within the relevant period, where an appeal succeeds and where estimated officer work proves unnecessary. Those conditions need to be checked against the record. A delay or disagreement does not automatically establish every refund claim, and obtaining a refund does not necessarily settle the underlying building-compliance issue.

Regulation 13 generally preserves existing charging schemes as schemes under the new framework, while ending the specified existing free-first-hour provision on commencement. This transition means a reader should not assume that every council will replace its whole fee table on the same day. The consultation response also says the relevant five- and ten-working-day deemed-acceptance periods will not be extended; the actual submission rules remain essential.

Practical preparation before November

• Identify whether the project is in England and which authority and procedure apply.
• Check the scheme in force for the relevant submission and the person responsible for payment.
• Preserve proof of filing, payment and decision notification.
• Review supplementary-charge, refund and transitional provisions against the project facts.

The regulations broaden how local building control is funded and make payment administration more consequential. They do not replace planning permission, technical compliance or the developer’s other safety duties. For Georgian investors with English projects, the same local requirements apply to the project regardless of where its owners reside.

Legal check date

Sources and law checked on 18 October 2026. Later developments are not reflected automatically. Application of the rules depends on the individual facts.