BS EN ISO 9001 2008
Following our successful audit on the 14 October 2010 the
accreditation for our Quality Management System continues.
Building Regulations
Consultation papers affecting the Building Regulations are
regularly issued by the Department for Communities and Local
Government.
The current papers are available online.
Customer surveys - 2010
We carry out regular customer surveys to assess our performance
in meeting client needs as well as striving to improve our level of
service. Each survey is targeted at a particular sector of our
customer base to ensure that all areas are considered.
Our most recent questionnaire was sent out last
Autumn. You can review the results of the survey
here:
Download the latest customer survey report
PDF (98kb)
May 2011
Visit of Singapore Building and Construction Authority
On 20 October, David Clements and Mark Pundsack of the District
Surveyors Office hosted two senior members of the Singapore
Building and Construction Authority who are responsible for
ensuring safe and sustainable construction in Singapore.
The prime reason for their visit to the UK was to appreciate how
Structural Eurocodes were being implemented in the UK and to
understand our Building Control system. We were able to give them a
very useful insight on both counts due to our presence on the
Institution of Structural Engineers Eurocode Committee, and as the
premier provider of Building Control in the City of London.
A very useful dialogue was held, and much surprise at the
differences in the two systems of Regulation. It appears designers
and builders here have much more freedom but are subjected to more
rigorous design checks and inspection on site by the City of
London. It is hoped that this exchange of information will continue
in the future.
Award-winning Building Control
The City District Surveyors office is pleased to announce
further success at the 2010 LABC Building Excellence
Awards. This took place at the Brewery in the City of London on the
2 November 2010 where Watermark Place was announced the winner for
Best Sustainable Project.
The City District Surveyor’s office is pleased to announce
successes at the 2010 LDSA Building Excellence Awards, which took
place in the Guildhall Crypts on 20 May 2010.
Projects where we were part of the construction team were
winners of the Best Sustainable Project and Best Commercial Project
categories, and received a commendation in the Best Community
Building category. This builds on last years success at the
national awards where the Broadgate Tower won the Best Commercial
Building.
Watermark Place Wins LABC National Awards
We are pleased to annouce that Watermark place has won the award
for Best Sustainable Project at the
LABC Building Excellence Awards setting the
benchmark for high spec City office developments incorporating a
variety of innovative sustainable features.
This award recognises the importance of building control in
England and Wales to ensure better design and builds with the
highest standards of safety, sustainability and accessibility.
Watermark Place is a new office development alongside the River
Thames with a fully glazed envelope comprising 525,000 sq ft of
office space over ground plus 11 floors (maximum) and three
floors below ground for car parking, bicycle and motorcycle
parking, storage and services. The design gives the external
appearance of three buildings rather than one due to its
varying heights.
Architect - Fletcher Priest
Apex Hotel, Copthall Avenue: Best Large Commercial
Project, winner
Conversion of existing 1960s office building into 89 bedroom 5
star hotel with restaurant, bar and gym facilities. Including
demolitions, major extensions, complete reclad of building
envelope, interior design, fit out and furniture design.
This project has also been shortlisted for the
National LABC Building Excellence Awards.
Architect - Ian Springford Architects
City of London Information Centre: Best Community
Project, commendation
Construction of a new building housing the St Paul’s tourist
information centre. The contemporary structure and layout provide
good access for all visitors.
This Project has also been shortlisted for the National LABC
Building Excellence Awards.
To find out more information about the visitor centre please
visit their website at
visit the city
Architect – Make
Submit your plans on a CD or DVD
You are now able to submit your plans on a DVD or CD in a
PDF,TIFF, JPEG or AutoCad format. Simply add them to your
application instead of multiple hard copies as was previously
required.
You can still submit a hard copy if you wish but you need only
provide one copy.
You can also submit plans by email or online.
Updated application forms with guidance notes are available
here.
New Building Control charges
In response to new government regulations the charges for the
Building Control service of the City of London changed on 1
October 2010.
The charges have been set to better reflect the resources that
the District Surveyor needs to allocate to individual projects
thereby providing better value for money for customers. To
help achieve this the projects covered by set charges are assessed
against both cost and category of the work involved. The
opportunity has been taken to simplify the tables by the use of
wider cost bands.
For work estimated to cost in excess of £5m the charge will be
assessed as part of an individual quotation based upon a range of
additional factors including complexity, contract period, floor
area and number of storeys. Again this is aimed at estimating
the resource time required to provide our service and therefore the
appropriate charge. Where the cost of work falls between £1m
and £5m the charge may be assessed as either a set charge from the
table or receive an individual quotation, whichever is more
appropriate.
It should be remembered that all our charges are assessed purely
to ensure cost recovery; there is no profit element for this
service.
Download the new Full Plans charges
here(68KB)
Should you wish to discuss charges for schemes costing in excess
of £100,000 please contact either Bill Welch on 020 7332 1939;
bill.welch@cityoflondon.gov.uk
or Geoff Martin on 020 7332 1962;
geoffrey.martin@cityoflondon.gov.uk
.
The new Building Regulations Charges Scheme No. 1, 2010 of the
City of London Corporation can be inspected free of charge at the
offices of:
The District Surveyor
Department of Environmental Services
City of London
Guildhall North Wing
London EC2P 2EJ
July 2010
The new team
David Clements, the City of London District Surveyor is very
pleased to announce that the
recently advertised vacancies have now been filled and
that the reorgisation of the Building Control Team is
complete.
View the structure of the Division here.
Broadgate Tower wins at the 2009 LABC National Building
Excellence Awards
The 2009 LABC (Local Authority Building Control) National
Building Excellence Awards took place on Tuesday, 20 October at the
Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square in London. Broadgate Tower in the
City of London won the Best Commercial Building over
£1million. Working in close association with all members of
the development team the City of London’s District Surveyor’s
office was pleased to nominate and support the project for this
prestigious award.
July 2007
Approved Document Part B, Fire Safety
Approved Document B, Fire Safety, has been revised and comes
into force on 6 April 2007.
The Approved Document has been split into two volumes: Volume 1
deals with dwellinghouses and Volume 2 deals with buildings other
than dwellinghouses and will replace the 2000 edition.
Some of the main changes to Approved Document B are:
A new regulation will ensure that owners, occupiers and/or
employers meet their statutory duties under the Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order 2005. Other changes to the previous version
include new guidance on the management of properties, certification
schemes, smoke alarms in flats, the provision of galleries and
inner inner rooms, means of escape (including an option of
providing sprinklers instead of alternative escape routes in
certain dwellinghouses and flats), cavity barriers, ventilation
systems and fire safety information. Means of escape for disabled
people has been incorporated in the general guidance on means of
escape. There is also new guidance applicable to small premises.
There are new requirements for compartment walls and
compartmentation, sprinklers in blocks of flats exceeding 30m,
concealed spaces and firefighting shafts.
January 2007
Building Control applications received
Building Regulations applications made since 1986
can now be viewed online.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 comes into force
on 1 October 2006. The Fire Precautions Act 1971 will be repealed
from this date and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations
1997 will also cease to exist. Owners and occupiers of buildings to
which the Order applies should be aware that, in particular, Part 2
Fire Safety Duties imposes various responsibilities on them. The
Order will be enforced by the London Fire Brigade. Further
information can be viewed at
London Fire Brigade.
October 2006
One London Wall wins Built In Quality Award
The London District Surveyors’ Association has recognised One
London Wall in the LDSA Built In Quality Awards for 2006. The
building took first place in the Best Large Commercial category at
the recent awards ceremony. Foster and Partners designed the
triangular glass office block and it was built by Sir Robert
McAlpine, working closely with the District Surveyor’s Office. One
of the reasons given for this win was the spirit of cooperation and
teamwork fostered by all members of the team. One London Wall has
been entered for the Local Authority Building Control National
Built In Quality Awards, to be held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on
19 October.
Crystal Mark awarded for our application forms
Our building notice, full plans, regularisation and section 20
application forms have each been awarded the Crystal Mark by the
Plain English Campaign. The forms are available online or from our
office by phoning 020 7332 1000.