The Act - an Overview Part 2: Approval of Construction Work Etc. Section 9: Building warrants: grant and amendments
38.Subsections (1) and (2) provide that verifiers must grant a building warrant or an amendment to a building warrant if, but only if, they are satisfied that the work will be carried out in accordance with building regulations and, when completed, will comply with the regulations. In the case of a conversion of part of a building the part being converted must comply with building regulations. Subsections (3) and (4) provide for building warrants to permit work on a building to be carried out in stages, each of which may require specific permission. This is the equivalent of the “staged warrant” system under the 1959 Act.
39.Subsections (5) and (6) make provision for a warrant to be amended by a verifier to permits deviations from the original plans etc.
40.Subsection (7)(a) and (8) provide that where a non-local authority verifier grants a building warrant or an amendment to a building warrant, that verifier must send a copy of that warrant or amendment, a copy of any continuing requirements imposed under section 22 and any other necessary documents to the local authority for registration in the building standards register. Subsection (7)(b) provides that all verifiers must notify the owner of the granting of the warrant, amendment to warrant or imposition of continuing requirements under section 22, unless the owner is the person who applied for the warrant or amendment.
41.Subsection (9) provides that, in relation to sections 9 to 14 (with the exception of section 14(4)), when an application for a building warrant or for an amendment to a building warrant is made, the building regulations which apply are those in force at the time of the application for the building warrant i.e. not any earlier version and, in the case of an application for an amendment to a warrant, not any later version incorporating changes made since the original application for the warrant. However, any relaxation or dispensation which may have been issued in relation to a building regulation after a building warrant has been granted will apply to that building warrant provided the applicant applies for an amendment to the warrant.
42.Subsection (10) provides that the provisions in sections 9 and 10 do not prevent a local authority from refusing to grant a building warrant under provisions in any other enactment.