Building control fees and charges

We are currently experiencing problems with payment receipts. When submitting your application please also email your payment receipt to buildingcontrol@bedford.gov.uk.

Our charges for domestic and non-domestic new builds, conversions, extensions and alterations - valid from 1 January 2026.

There are two methods of establishing the charge for building work:

• standard charges
• individual determined charges

If the charge for your Building Regulation work is not listed as a standard charge it will need to be individually determined.

If your charge requires to be individually determined please contact Building Control by email at buildingcontrol@bedford.gov.uk.

Important notes on paying charges

The relevant charge is payable at the time of submission. When a Full Plans application is submitted, a two-stage charge is normally payable. The plan charge must accompany the submitted drawings and application form, and the inspection charge is a once only payment that is due after the first inspection. If the relevant charge is not received the application cannot be treated as deposited.

These charges have been set by Bedford Borough Council on the basis that the building work does not consist of non-standard buildings and the duration of the building work from commencement to completion does not exceed 12 months.

The charges have also been set on the basis that the design and building work is undertaken by a person or company that is competent to carry out the relevant design and building work.

See the notes below on supplementary charges that may be applied when the Council is required to spend additional time dealing with an application than was reasonably anticipated at the time the application was accepted.

The charges for a Building Notice, Regularisation or Reversion applications are non-refundable. VAT must be added to all charges submitted with an application (except for Regularisation and Reversion applications). All inspection charge invoices sent out after the first inspection will have VAT added at the appropriate rate.

Where work is to be carried out at the same time and involves more then one extension the floor areas of each extension can be added together to determine the chargeable category payable. A 50% reduction can be applied to multiple works being carried out at the same time. The appropriate charge is calculated by paying the full amount for the most expensive category and only 50% for the other applicable categories. This discount does not apply to Regularisation and Reversion applications.

A 10% reduction can be applied to the plan charge where a full plans application is being submitted by one of our partners.

Charges will not be payable for works to provide access and/or necessary facilities for disabled people.

Planning permission may also be required. Please visit our Do I need planning permission page to see if planning permission is also required. 

Supplementary charges

Where the Council is required to spend additional time dealing with an application than was reasonably anticipated at the time the application was accepted, supplementary charges may be applied. Supplementary charges will be applied at the hourly rate applicable of £108 +VAT per hour from 1 January 2026.

Examples of when supplementary charges apply:

• Should there be any design changes to the proposal after the application has been deposited that will involve additional plans assessment work.
• In the event that the Council has to unreasonably spend additional time with matters that your professional agent, contractor or yourselves should be able to resolve or, obtain appropriate professional advice over. Whilst Building Control will provide some informal advice it is not able to provide design advice. It is incumbent upon all applicants to obtain their own professional advice commercially. Similarly, it is up to you as the applicant or duty holder to engage competent designers and contractors who themselves able to complete a compliant project to the appropriate standards.
• If we attend site and notice defective or incomplete stages of work and must make a repeat visit to witness the corrected work.
• If we attend site to make an inspection that has been arranged and there is nobody there to meet the inspector and access to the work is not reasonably available.
• Due to operational standard rules, our inspectors may be required to undertake interim visits where a significant period has elapsed between inspections.  In these circumstances an inspector is likely to contact you to arrange a suitable appointment. Should you repeatedly fail to make provision for inspection, a supplementary charge may be applied.
• In the event that your work progresses beyond 12 months from the commencement of work to the final inspection you may become liable for a supplementary charge unless this was identified at the time of deposit of the application.
• If you indicated at the time of making the application that you would use a Competent Person Scheme (CPS) for certain operations and subsequently don’t. In these cases, our inspectors or contractors would then undertake the relevant survey work instead. If you have not indicated otherwise, the Council will assume that you intend to use a CPS for those works where such a scheme is available. See further information on Competence Person Schemes on GOV.UK here.
• If your application shows separate elements of work, but those works do not progress simultaneously and as a result the inspector must visit the separate elements of work at different times. Unless that is agreed at the time the application was deposited.