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Making an online building control application

Fees - Requesting and confirming an application fee

An application fee will need to be agreed with the building control body that you submit to, if you don’t already have a fee amount agreed, you can request one through the application prompts.

Managing a fee

From the application overview screen, choose ‘Manage fee’, you will be asked ‘do you have a confirmed fee?’ if you have a pre-agreed fee with the building control body choose yes, you can enter the agreed fee and a reference number from the building control body if you have one, and move on to the declaration.  

Requesting a fee

If you don’t already have a fee agreed with a building control body, you will need to request one - Under 'Manage fee' in the application overview, choose ‘No’ to the question ‘do you have a confirmed fee?’ Continue by answering the questions relating to your application. This will enable the building control body to ascertain a fee, they will receive a notification that you have requested a fee, which they can calculate and enter into their side of the system. You will a receive an email to advise that a fee has been provided and the amount will be displayed on screen in the overview of your application.

You can only request a fee from one building control body, who are assigned during the creation of the application - that building control body will receive your request for a fee.

To ensure the building control body can view the documents that you add to help them provide a fee, please only upload PDF, JPG/JPEG and PNG.

Other file types that are accepted with your application and will still be able to be seen by the building control body, but not until the application has been submitted.

Confirming a fee

You will need to confirm the fee in order to continue to pay and submit the application. In the application overview select ‘Confirm fee’ where you can view the amount and a breakdown of the fee before confirming. If the building control body has stipulated conditions that relate to the application fee provided, they will be shown there. Choose ‘Confirm fee’ to continue to submit and pay.

Please note, the determination of whether the fee is correct is solely the responsibility of the relevant building control body. Once you have submitted and paid for the application, the fee will be checked by them when they validate the application, and they will confirm whether the fee is correct.

If further information is needed

If the building control body are unable to provide a fee and need more information, they will explain in their response to you. You will be notified by email and advised of next steps by clicking ‘View instructions’ in the manage fee area of the application overview. This will show comments provided by the building control body to guide you on what to do next.

Changes to a fee request

You cannot cancel a request for a fee once it has been sent to the building control body, but you are not obligated to complete or submit the application if or when the building control body provides a fee.

Providing the building control body has not yet provided a fee, you can amend supporting documents and the building control body will see ‘live’ versions, but no other fee request information can be changed.

Fee exemptions

These options allow you to claim any relevant fee exemption (e.g. if the proposed works are solely for the provision of disability access to a building).

You will be required to evidence your eligibility for any exemption claimed.

The validity of any claim will be checked and confirmed by the building control body once the application is received by them. If deemed to be invalid, the correct fee will be due. This will cause delays to the processing of the application.

There is a service charge for submitting building control applications using our service, unless the application is exempt from a fee for valid and demonstrable reasons. The service charge is £21 including VAT.

    The Planning Portal is delivered by PortalPlanQuest Limited which is a joint venture between TerraQuest Solutions Limited and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). All content © 2025 Planning Portal.

    The Planning Portal is delivered by PortalPlanQuest Limited which is a joint venture between TerraQuest Solutions Limited and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). All content © 2025 Planning Portal.