Part 3: Building Act 1984 Building control approvers and building inspectors Section 51: New initial notices Background
Currently if a registered building control approver is unable to undertake their function, their work reverts to local authority supervision unless another initial notice has been accepted. A few Approved Inspectors were unable to secure insurance and went into liquidation in 2019, and the consequential unplanned transfers to the local authorities caused disruptions to clients and some local authorities.
	Similar circumstances such as this could also arise in the future. The measures in this section create greater flexibility and capacity for the building control system to address such issues, while satisfying the local authorities that any work by a new registered building control approver is adequate.
Example 1: Person(s) carrying out the work
A registered building control approver is subject to disciplinary action from the Building Safety Regulator or, in relation to Wales, the Welsh Ministers and as a result loses their ability to continue their function and the initial notice is cancelled.
The person(s) carrying out the work wishes to continue with the private building control route and has seven days to submit a new initial notice with another registered building control approver.
Example 2: New registered building control approver
The new registered building control approver submits a new initial notice and must carry out necessary activities and verify works.
If satisfied, the new registered building control approver submits a transfer certificate and transfer report to the relevant local authority within 21 days or the prescribed period in regulations. It is able to ask for an extension to the local authority (which they should not unreasonably withhold).
The certificate must have the prescribed information and be accompanied by a transfer report. This transfer certificate and report must be submitted to the new national register.
Example 3: Local authority
The local authority receives an initial notice from the person(s) carrying out the work and the new registered building control approver.
Once a transfer certificate and accompanying report have been received by the local authority, they can either request more information from the registered building control approver, by notice, which should also go the person carrying out the work; or they can accept or reject under prescribed grounds in building regulations.
When further information is requested by the local authority, the registered building control approver must provide the specified information within a prescribed period. The local authority will then have a prescribed period of time in which to accept or reject the certificate/report under prescribed grounds. If the registered building control approver fails to provide information within the prescribed time, the local authority must reject the transfer certificate and transfer report and cancel the initial notice. The project will then revert to the relevant local authority building control.