Changes to Building Control in Wales from 1st July 2026
As new Building Control requirements come into force in Wales on 1 July 2026, Planning Portal is introducing a series of updates to its online application service. The changes will align the service with the new legislation, helping applicants and local authorities adapt smoothly to the updated process. You can find more information below:
In summary these updates include:
- Introduction of a new ‘Higher Risk Building work’ application type
- Update to existing application types to flag when they may no longer be appropriate
- Addition of ‘additional information’ requirements to the ‘Full Plans’ application, to satisfy legislative amendments.
New ‘Higher Risk Building work’ application type
The changes require the introduction of a new application type for ‘High Risk Building work’. This new application type will:
- Be limited to local authorities (i.e. will not allow submission to RBCAs),
- Will only support submission to the authority for that area (i.e. no ‘partnership’ applications).
It will cover both legislated routes (HRB work or stage of HRB work; and work to an existing HRB), with options to capture relevant details for both within the questions.
Ten new supporting document types will also be added to the system covering the specifically named requirements in legislation:
- Building Regulations compliance statement
- Change control plan
- Competence declaration
- Construction control plan
- Fire and emergency file
- Fire safety compliance information
- Mandatory occurrence reporting plan
- Partial completion strategy
- Staged work statement
- Staged work – Subsequent stages statement
Fees will still be entered or requested in the normal way, and the application submitted as usual. As with everything else in our Building Control system in Wales, the full online application process will also be available in Welsh language.
Updates to existing Building Control application types
For Full Plans and Building Notice applications, we are updating the service to identify when proposed work falls under the new Higher-Risk Buildings legislation. Where this applies, applicants will be informed that they must use the new application type and will be prevented from submitting the incorrect application.
In such instances, applicants will be able to copy common details from the incorrect application type to the new HRB application type and continue as required.
The process for regularisation certificate applications is also being updated to account for situations where the unauthorised building work was in relation to a Higher Risk Building.
This will help applicants determine whether a regularisation certificate is the appropriate route for the work carried out. For example, where the work involved a ‘major change’, applicants will be advised to contact the local authority to determine the most appropriate course of action.
Additional information requirements for Full Plans applications
From 1st July, applicants will be required to supply more information when completing a Full Plans application.
We are adding and updating specific questions to capture these requirements as part of the Full Plan application:
- Adding questions to capture details (where known) of the principal contractor and designer.
- Adding an ‘Existing building’ question to allow entry (where relevant) of the height, number of storeys, and use of each storey in the existing building.
- Updating the ‘Proposed work’ question to include the height, number of storeys, and use of each storey, and to allow applicants to enter the date when the work will be commenced or when building control supervision will be required.
- Removing the current ‘Use of building’ question – as this information will be entered in more detail in the ‘Existing building’ and ‘Proposed work’ questions.
What this means for applicants
What should I do if work relates to a higher risk building?
From the 1st July 2026, you will see the new ‘Higher Risk Building work’ application type available when you create a new application.
If you are already working on a draft application that you plan to submit after the end of June, you will be presented with a question which asks if the work relates to a Higher Risk Building.
If it does, then you will need to either:
- In the case of full plans or building notices, copy the application to the new ‘Higher Risk Building work’ application type.
- In the case of regularisation certificates, answer the additional questions to confirm the process is still suitable.
If you are making the application to a private sector Registered Building Control Approver, or as part of a partnership agreement, then you should copy the draft application details from your ‘Application Overview’ to a new ‘Higher Risk Building Work’ application. Instead of submitting this to the Registered Building Control Approver, you should ensure you assign it to the local authority that covers the area in which the site is located.
As not all local authorities in Wales currently support our online service, this may mean that you are unable to do so and would therefore not be able to make the application online.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we are actively trying to recruit all Welsh local authorities.
What should I do if I am are making a full plans application and work does not relate to a higher risk building?
From the 1st July 2026, additional information will be required before you can submit your application.
If you are already working on a draft application that you plan to submit after the end of June, then you should review it prior to requesting a fee or submission to ensure that the following questions are complete and your response to these questions accurately represents your proposal:
- Principal contractor details
- Principal designer details
- Existing building
- Proposed work
What this means for local authorities
For new ‘Higher risk building work’ applications
If your local authority supports our service, then from 1st July 2026 applicants can create and submit applications for Higher Risk Building work.
If you already manually download building control submissions, then nothing will change. You will continue to receive email notifications that provide a summary of the submission and instructions for retrieving it.
For those authorities that are integrated with Planning Portal, we recommend monitoring submission notification emails for Higher-Risk Building work applications and ensuring they align with what you are retrieving.
In the case that a submission is not retrieved, it will need to be manually downloaded via your Planning Portal admin functions.
Information on how to do this, and all other admin functions, is available in our guidance.
For the updates to ‘Full Plans’ applications
The new information requirements in ‘Full Plans’ are not currently supported in the XML datafile that is part of the application submission. Due to this, these details will need to be obtained from the generated PDF application forms that accompany all submissions.
General considerations for the changes
We are currently working on a modern API and JSON data standard for Building Control to accommodate these changes and ensure all application data can be retrieved by your IT system. We will communicate further details in due course, once they are confirmed.
Local authorities may wish to configure their IT systems to process the new supporting document types we are adding. Note that these could be included in any building control submission going forward.
If you have any questions about these changes, or if your local authority does not currently use our Building Control service and would like to explore joining, please contact Matt Culley at Matt.Culley@terraquest.co.uk for further information.
Local Authorities can find full guidance on our Building Control Service here: Admin guide for BCBs (local authorities)
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