Report a breach of building regulations

Make a complaint about works done without building regulations approval.

Enforcement of building regulations

It's the responsibility of all designers, builders and building owners to make sure they comply with the requirements of building regulations and related legislation.

We enforce the building regulations legislation informally by checking plans submitted and making site inspections.

We take a more formal approach where works are carried out without consent.  We only take legal action as a last resort.

What we do not investigate

We will not investigate:

• boundary disputes
• investigation of land ownership
• party wall disputes
• noise complaints
• health and safety on building sites
• erection of scaffolding
• breach of planning rules
• road safety concerns

Report it

You can use our online form to tell us about a possible breach of building regulations.

Report a breach of building regulations

Upload evidence

You can upload up to four images, pdfs or documents if you want to send evidence of the problem you're reporting.

Other ways to report a breach

You can write to us at: Building Regulations and Standards, City Hall, Bristol City Council, PO Box 3399, Bristol, BS1 9NE.

You must tell us:

• when the work started
• the address of the land or building
• the approximate dimensions of any building works
• names, addresses and telephone numbers of any owners, occupiers or builders involved

What happens next

• we check the reported breach to find out if the incident is an enforcement issue, so it can be formally registered
• we'll write to the owner of the property to find out what works have been carried out, and arrange a site inspection if necessary
• we'll carry out a site inspection if there's no response to our letter
• we'll try to negotiate an acceptable solution, in many cases a regularisation application can be made
• if this fails, we may consider taking formal legal action