If you appointed a private Registered Building Control Approver (RBCA) but they can no longer oversee your building work, responsibility for checking and certifying your project reverts (transfers) to the council.
Once an initial notice is cancelled, any ongoing or completed construction is legally classed as unauthorised works until the council takes over the application and inspects the site.
When building control reverts to the council
Building supervision legally reverts to the council if your Registered Building Control Approver (RBCA) cancels their initial notice.
This usually happens if the approver:
- Ceases trading or goes out of business
- Loses their professional insurance
- Cannot resolve building regulation breaches or safety issues on site
Once an initial notice is cancelled, control passes to the council unless a new initial notice from a different RBCA is accepted:
- Within 7 days of the council receiving the cancellation notice, if issued by your original approver (Section 52(1)(a) of the Building Act 1984)
- Before the council begins supervising the work, if the cancellation was submitted by the person carrying out the work (Section 52(3) of the Building Act 1984)
What you must provide
When you submit a reversion application, you must provide:
- Cancellation notice: written confirmation via a Form 10 that the registered building control approver’s initial notice has been formally cancelled
- Inspection notes: copies of all site visit notes, inspection logs, and correspondence from the previous approver
- Plans and descriptions: drawings showing the building before work began, what construction work has already been completed, and what work is still planned
- Structural calculations: engineering reports and calculations showing that the work complies with the building regulations in place when construction originally started
- Photographic evidence: photographs taken during construction showing foundations, structural steels, insulation, or damp proofing (clear photos can reduce the amount of building work you have to open up)
Application fees
The application fee: we calculate an individual fee for each reversion after reviewing the scale of the works and the documents provided. Check the building control fees and charges for more information.
What happens after you apply
Once we receive your reversion application and documentation, a building control surveyor will inspect the site.
To determine whether the work meets safety standards, the surveyor may instruct you to:
- Lay open or expose parts of the construction (such as foundations, structural beams, or insulation) so they can inspect them
- Arrange formal tests or take material samples for laboratory checking
The surveyor may also request additional architectural drawings or structural calculations during the site inspection.