Part 3: Building Act 1984 Building control approvers and building inspectors Section 52: Information gathering Background
This section is a new power in response to issues arising from a number of Approved Inspectors that went into administration in 2019. In some cases, administrators have refused to provide information to local authorities and even to the clients of the Approved Inspector because they considered they were under no duty to do so in the Building Act 1984. This section places the person shown on the initial notice as the registered building control approver (formerly Approved Inspectors) under a new duty to provide all information requested by a local authority whether or not the person is still a registered building control approver and also to the person carrying out or intending to carry out the work.
Example 1: Local authority
A registered building control approver has its registration suspended and as a result a local authority cancels a number of its initial notices for work in the local authority’s area and the work becomes subject to building control supervision by the local authority.
In order to facilitate its building control functions, the local authority may issue a notice to the person shown on the cancelled initial notice as the registered building control approver requiring it to provide the local authority with the relevant information it holds on the building works. A copy of any information provided must also be sent to the person carrying out the work.
Example 2: Person carrying out the work
A registered building control approver has its initial notice cancelled as it appears to the person carrying out the work that the registered building control approver is no longer willing or able to carry out its functions with respect to any of that work.
As directly interested in the building control information relating to works, the person intending to carry them out is entitled to receive certain information from the former registered building control approver including any information sent to the local authority and any other information they may by notice reasonably require.