How do the Building Regulations work in the UK?
Published · Updated · By Sai Nath
In England, the Building Regulations 2010 set what building work must achieve, and the Approved Documents, A to T, show accepted ways to meet them: Approved Document K, for example, allows a private stair rise of 150 to 220 mm. Council or private building control checks the work. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.
What are the Building Regulations?
The Building Regulations 2010 are the law for building work in England. Schedule 1 sets the requirements in lettered Parts, mostly as outcomes rather than numbers: requirement K1, for example, says stairs, ladders and ramps must be safe for people moving between levels. Building work includes putting up or extending a building and material alterations (regulation 3); changes of use have their own rules (regulation 5), and all work must be done in a workmanlike way with proper materials (regulation 7). Planning permission is a separate consent, and a job can need both.
What are the Approved Documents?
They are guidance, approved by the Secretary of State, on practical ways to meet each Part. If you follow one there is a presumption that the work complies, though not a guarantee, and you can meet a requirement another way if your building control body agrees. The figures builders work to live in them: Approved Document K, for example, allows a private stair rise of 150 to 220 mm. GOV.UK also publishes all of them merged into one searchable PDF.
| Document | What it covers |
|---|---|
| A | Structure; see joist spacing and stud spacing |
| B | Fire safety, in two volumes: dwellings and other buildings |
| C | Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture |
| D | Toxic substances |
| E | Resistance to sound |
| F | Ventilation |
| G | Sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency |
| H | Drainage and waste disposal; patio and drain falls are worked in construction calculations on a UK build |
| J | Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems |
| K | Protection from falling, collision and impact; see stairs, handrails and guarding and spindle gaps |
| L | Conservation of fuel and power |
| M | Access to and use of buildings |
| O | Overheating |
| P | Electrical safety |
| Q | Security in dwellings |
| R | Infrastructure for electronic communications |
| S | Infrastructure for charging electric vehicles |
| T | Toilet accommodation |
| 7 | Material and workmanship |
How does building control work in England?
Most building work has to be checked by a building control body. For a house or an extension you choose either your council's building control, applying through the Planning Portal, or a private registered building control approver, registered with the Building Safety Regulator (the 2013 Approved Documents still call these approved inspectors). Higher-risk buildings, at least 18 m or 7 storeys high with at least 2 homes, or a hospital or care home, need approval from the Building Safety Regulator instead.
- Full plans: drawings checked before work starts. Expect a decision within 5 weeks, or 2 months if you agree, and usually a completion certificate within 8 weeks of finishing.
- Building notice: for smaller jobs. Work can start 2 days after the notice goes in, without formal plan approval.
- Regularisation: approval after the event, from the council only, for work done without approval after 11 November 1985.
- Competent person schemes: registered installers of things like windows, boilers and electrics notify the work for you and give you a certificate within 8 weeks.
Without approval you may not have the certificates you need when you sell, and the building control body can make you pay to put faulty work right. Refusals can be appealed to the Building Safety Regulator.
What changed after the Building Safety Act?
Since April 2023 the Building Safety Regulator has had a duty under the Building Safety Act 2022 to keep building standards in England under review, including the Approved Documents. It also registers private approvers, approves work on higher-risk buildings and hears appeals. Approved Document K is unchanged: the 2013 edition is still current, and the Regulator's call for evidence on Part K (19 October to 28 December 2026) proposes no changes. From 1 October 2026 a Building Safety Levy may apply to applications for certain residential buildings.
Do Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use the same rules?
No, so check the figures for the nation the job is in.
- Wales also works under the Building Regulations 2010, but the Welsh Government publishes its own Approved Documents. Its Approved Document K is the 1998 edition with the 2000 and 2010 amendments, not England's 2013 edition, and glazing still has its own Approved Document N. Building control is the council or an approver on the Welsh register.
- Scotland has the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, explained in the domestic and non-domestic Technical Handbooks; the April 2026 handbooks apply to building warrants submitted from 6 April 2026. Bigger jobs need a building warrant from the council's building standards department. A private stair there needs a going of at least 225 mm (Table 4.3), not England's 220 mm.
- Northern Ireland has the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012, with Technical Booklets from the Department of Finance and building control run by the district councils. Technical Booklet H (October 2012) covers stairs, ramps and guarding, and lets a private stair riser go down to 75 mm (Table 3.1).
The Approved Document K stairs page compares the four nations' figures for a private stair.
Where does MeisterCalc fit?
The regulations set the limits; the sums are yours. The free Stairs calculator in MeisterCalc works out risers, goings, stringer length and the stairwell opening in millimetres. Its warnings use Australian figures, so for an English stair you set the 220 mm limit yourself: see the Stairs calculator. The free web stair calculator can check a stair against Approved Document K. Neither makes work comply; building control decides.
United Kingdom rules, topic by topic
Sources
Checked on 1 November 2026. These pages explain the rules; the code itself, your plans and your council, building consent authority, building control body or certifier decide what a job needs.
- The Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214), legislation.gov.uk: The regulations themselves; regulations 3, 5 and 7 and requirement K1 as set out in Approved Document K, 2013 edition. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Approved Documents (GOV.UK collection): The list of Approved Documents A to T and 7, and the merged Approved Documents PDF. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Approved Document K on GOV.UK: 2013 edition still current; its front pages explain what an Approved Document is; Table 1.1 for the 150 to 220 mm private stair rise. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Building regulations approval (GOV.UK guide): Building control bodies, full plans, building notice, regularisation, competent person schemes, higher-risk buildings, appeals and the Building Safety Levy. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Find a registered building control approver in England (GOV.UK): Private building control businesses must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator; Wales has its own register. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Building Safety Regulator: call for evidence on Part K: 19 October to 28 December 2026; no changes proposed; current guidance stays in place. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Building regulations: approved documents (Welsh Government): The Welsh Approved Documents, including Approved Document N (glazing) and Approved Document K, 1998 edition incorporating 2000 and 2010 amendments. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Building standards technical handbook: domestic, April 2026 (Scottish Government): Guidance on the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 for warrants submitted from 6 April 2026; Table 4.3 for private stairs. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Building standards for homeowners (mygov.scot): Building warrants from the local council's building standards department. (checked 1 November 2026)
- Building Regulations Technical Booklets (Department of Finance, Northern Ireland): Current booklets, including Technical Booklet H, October 2012 (Table 3.1); district councils decide whether the regulations are met. (checked 1 November 2026)
Do the maths in MeisterCalc
MeisterCalc does the arithmetic behind these rules on an Android phone, with no signal needed: Stairs, Concrete and Check Square are free, and the other calculators come with Pro. It runs on Android 7.0 or later.