New Building Control Enforcement Policy proposed for Castle Point
A new Building Control Enforcement Policy will be presented at the Cabinet meeting on 19 February 2025.
A Building Control Enforcement Policy sets out the approach the Council takes to ensure compliance with building regulations. It aims to protect public safety and supports businesses and residents in meeting legal obligations.
The new policy follows an inspection by the Building Safety Regulator of the Council’s building control functions in December 2024. Castle Point was one of the first local authorities to be inspected following the Building Safety Act 2022. Inspections are carried out at random.
The visit highlighted the good work carried out by the Council’s Building Control team, but some concerns were raised that they did not have some formally adopted policies to guide processes.
A contravention letter was received on 28 January 2025 identifying areas for improvement. A contravention letter is the lowest level intervention that the Regulator can take following an audit and is aimed at giving the Council the opportunity to make improvements.
Work has already begun to address the areas for improvement identified with the Regulator and an action plan will be presented to Cabinet in March.
Councillor Tim Copsey, Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning said: “We are grateful to the Regulator for their detailed feedback and to the team for their swift response to the issues identified.
“This policy reinforces the Council’s commitment to public safety and responsible enforcement and will help us to continue to maintain high building standards in Castle Point.”