Permits and licensing · England
Renovation permits and contractor licences in England
In England the consents attach to the work, not to a general trade registration. Building regulations approval and planning permission are different things and GOV.UK says you might need both. Gas work is reserved by law to Gas Safe registered businesses, and an installer registered with a competent person scheme can self-certify certain work — electrics, windows, roofing — instead of going to building control.
Regulators and licensing bodies in England
These official bodies license contractors, oversee safety or issue permits in England.
Building control (your local authority, or a registered building control approver)
Checks that building work meets the building regulations. For a normal home you can either choose your local authority's building control department or a private registered building control approver.
Your local planning authority
Decides planning applications. GOV.UK says you will probably need planning permission to build something new, to make a major change such as an extension, or to change the use of a building.
Building Safety Regulator (BSR)
An executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It regulates higher-risk buildings, which is where building control approval comes from instead of the local authority.
Competent person schemes
Authorised schemes that let a registered installer self-certify that their own work complies with the building regulations. Schemes cover electrical work, windows and doors, roofing, heating and other trades.
Gas Safe Register
Maintains the register of businesses and operatives competent to carry out piped natural gas and LPG work. HSE states that under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, a gas engineering business must be on the Gas Safe Register to legally undertake gas work within the scope of the Regulations.
Trades that need a licence in England
General contracting and renovation
England regulates the building work rather than registering builders as a trade, so the question to ask is not "are you licensed?" but "who is getting approval for this job?". GOV.UK lists the work that needs building regulations approval — building and extending, replacing electrics, installing a bathroom, replacing windows and doors, roof work and heating systems — and warns that the person doing the work could be prosecuted and fined if it does not comply.
Sources:GOV.UK – Building regulations approval(opens in a new tab)
Gas and fuel-burning appliances
Gas work is the clearest legal line in the UK. The Regulations say no employer may let an employee, and no self-employed person may, carry out work on a gas fitting unless they are a member of a class of persons approved by the Health and Safety Executive — the Gas Safe Register. Ask to see the engineer's Gas Safe registration before any work on a boiler, hob, fire or gas pipework.
Sources:Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)HSE – Gas Safe Register(opens in a new tab)
Electrical work
Electrical safety in homes is covered by Approved Document P, which is statutory guidance for England and explains when work has to be notified. An installer registered with a competent person scheme for electrical work can self-certify it; otherwise the work has to go through a building control body.
Sources:GOV.UK – Approved Document P: electrical safety, dwellings(opens in a new tab)GOV.UK – Competent person scheme: current schemes and how schemes are authorised(opens in a new tab)
Plumbing
Plumbing is not a licensed trade in England, which surprises people who assume it works like gas: nobody needs a plumbing licence to work on your pipes. What binds the work is the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, which require every water fitting to be of an appropriate quality and standard, to be suitable for the circumstances in which it is used, and to be installed, connected, altered, repaired or disconnected in a workmanlike manner. Some work must also be notified to your water undertaker before it begins, and started only with that undertaker's consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld — the list includes a bath above a stated capacity, a bidet with an ascending spray, a pump above a stated flow rate, a reverse osmosis or water treatment unit, and a pond or pool above a stated volume with automatic replenishment. An approved contractor can install some of those fittings without the notice. Ask which applies before the work starts, because the duty is the householder's.
Sources:The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 4 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 5 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Certified trades
Competent person schemes are the nearest thing England has to trade registration, and they are work-specific. GOV.UK's list names the authorised schemes for each type of work, including FENSA and CERTASS for windows and doors, CompetentRoofer and NAPIT for roofing, and the Gas Safe Register for gas. Registration only covers the work the scheme is authorised for.
Consumer protection
Getting approval matters when you come to sell. GOV.UK warns that without building regulations approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you want to sell your home, so keep the completion paperwork or the installer's self-certification with your deeds.
Sources:GOV.UK – Building regulations approval(opens in a new tab)
Building and renovation permits in England
Two separate consents can apply. Planning permission is decided by your local planning authority and is about what you build and how it is used; building regulations approval is about how it is built. GOV.UK states plainly that building regulations approval is different from planning permission and that you might need both. Many smaller jobs fall under permitted development rights, which the government describes as a national grant of planning permission allowing certain works without a planning application — but the Planning Practice Guidance warns that even when no planning application is needed, other consents may be required under other regimes. Listed buildings and conservation areas are controlled separately: it is an offence to alter, extend or demolish a listed building in a way that affects its special interest without consent, and demolishing other buildings in a conservation area needs planning permission. If you are building on the boundary, cutting into a party wall or excavating near a neighbour's foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 also applies and you must give your neighbours notice first.
Sources:GOV.UK – Building regulations approval(opens in a new tab)GOV.UK – Planning permission (England and Wales)(opens in a new tab)GOV.UK – When is permission required? (Planning Practice Guidance)(opens in a new tab)GOV.UK – Party Wall etc. Act 1996: guidance(opens in a new tab)Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 7 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Before you hire a contractor in England
Practical checks you can do yourself, using official tools where they exist.
Settle who applies for building regulations approval before work starts — your local authority's building control department or a registered building control approver.
Official lookup: GOV.UK – Building regulations approval(opens in a new tab)
For any gas work, ask to see the engineer's Gas Safe registration. HSE states a business must be on the register to legally do gas work.
Official lookup: HSE – Gas Safe Register(opens in a new tab)
For electrical work, ask whether the installer is registered with a competent person scheme and will self-certify, or whether building control has to be notified instead.
Official lookup: GOV.UK – Competent person scheme: current schemes and how schemes are authorised(opens in a new tab)
Ask your local planning authority whether the job is permitted development before you rely on it being permitted.
Official lookup: GOV.UK – Find your local council(opens in a new tab)
If the building is listed or in a conservation area, get consent before anyone starts: contravening the listed building rules is a criminal offence.
Official lookup: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 9 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Building on the boundary, cutting into a party wall or digging near a neighbour's foundations? Serve notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 first.
Official lookup: GOV.UK – Party Wall etc. Act 1996: guidance(opens in a new tab)
Keep the completion certificate or the installer's self-certification: you may need the certificates of compliance when you sell.
Sources for renovation permits and licences in England
Every fact on this page comes from these official sources.
- GOV.UK – Building regulations approval(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – Planning permission (England and Wales)(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – Find your local council(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – Building Safety Regulator(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – Competent person scheme: current schemes and how schemes are authorised(opens in a new tab)
- HSE – Gas Safe Register(opens in a new tab)
- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – Approved Document P: electrical safety, dwellings(opens in a new tab)
- The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 4 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
- The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 5 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – When is permission required? (Planning Practice Guidance)(opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK – Party Wall etc. Act 1996: guidance(opens in a new tab)
- Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 7 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Find licensed pros
Compare local pros for the regulated trades in this guide, then confirm their licence with the regulator before you hire.
Renovation permits in the other UK nations
Planning a renovation?
Describe your project once and hear from local pros. Ask each one for their licence and permit details before you hire.