REGULATION 18 - The Building (RBCA etc) (England) Regulations 2024
Compliance Declarations - to be completed at the end of the project
The Client / Domestic Client and dutyholders, must be aware of their duties under PART 2A of the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 before accepting assignments.
At the latter stage of the project a compliance declaration will need to be submitted. Please make sure you have available the full details of everyone working for you on your project, as well as copies of correspondence we have previously sent to you.
Reg. 18. Where building work described in an initial notice is completed the client must give the
approver a notice which includes—
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(a) the name, address, telephone number and (if available) email address of the client;
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(b) the name, address, telephone number and (if available) email address of the principal contractor (or sole contractor) and the principal designer (or sole or lead designer);
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(c) a statement that the building work is complete;
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(d) a statement, signed by the client, confirming that to the best of the client’s knowledge the work complies with all applicable requirements of the building regulations;
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(e) a statement given by each principal contractor (or sole contractor) for the work and each principal designer (or sole or lead designer) for the work, signed by the person to which the declaration relates, which includes—
(i) the name, address, telephone number and (if available) email address of that person, (ii) the dates of their appointment, and
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(iii) confirmation—
(aa) in the case of a principal contractor (or sole contractor), that they fulfilled their duties as a principal contractor under Part 2A (dutyholders and competence) of the 2010 Regulations;
(bb) in the case of a principal designer (or sole or lead designer), that they fulfilled their duties as a principal designer under Part 2A (dutyholders and competence) of the 2010 Regulations.
Other advice for the Client / Domestic Client
PRINCIPLE DESIGNERS (PD) have a responsibility to plan, manage and monitor, the design process from start to finish. This covers responsibilities for any designs created by specialists, contractors, or subcontractors, as well as any modifications to the authorised design as part of the construction phase.
The PD should also deliver compliant plans prior to the building work commencing, whilst liaising with the principal contractor and sharing information with the principal contractor relevant to the planning, management and monitoring of building.
It is up to the Client / Domestic Client to negotiate contractual matters between the dutyholders building control will not be involved in such matters.
There is an assumption that domestic clients will not have the necessary skills to carry out the client tasks outlined in the regulations. So, when there is only one contractor, the client's duties instantly go to the one contractor. But if there are more than one contractor, the client's duties may go to either the main contractor or the main designer, as long as the client and main designer agree in writing that the main designer will take on the client's responsibilities. This legal requirement stresses how important it is to give domestic clients the right information at the right time about their client duties so that they can agree on who will do these duties.
If you are the lead designer and also acting as the principal designer, this is especially important because you will need to know how to do the client's role, if their main contractor cannot or will not do it themselves. You may even be required to do so by agreement.
Domestic clients
Reg 11C.—Where the client is a domestic client the duties in regulations 11A(1) to (3) and
11E(2) to (5) must be carried out by—
(a) where there is only one contractor for a project, the contractor;
(b) where there is more than one contractor for a project—
(i) the principal contractor; or
(ii) the principal designer where the client and the principal designer agree in writing the principal designer is to fulfil those duties.
(2) If a domestic client fails to make the appointments required by regulation 11D (principal designer and principal contractor)—
(a) the designer in control of the design phase of the project is the principal designer;
(b) the contractor in control of the construction phase of the project is the principal contractor.
(3) Regulation 11D(5) does not apply to a domestic client.
As a Client - You can draft your own responses to us by following the Reg. 18 submission details below (1 to 6), but we have included below a link to our REG18 form for convenience only.