Viewing building regulation documents, £60 a fair charge?

[woodspiral]

Hi,

I've just bought a Grade II listed building in Bedfordshire and have a lot of things to sort out. I am trying to find out details (i.e. engineering plans) of underpinning work which was done in 1995/1996. I have the building reg reference and the name of the officer in charge at the time. I have confirmed with the council that they have these documents and it would also appear that the officer in question no longer works for the council.

What I find bizarre is that if I pay the standard £10.60 charge I will just get a single page letter confirming that the underpinning works started and that they were completed successfully, but nothing else. The engineering plans are on microfiche and Bedford Borough Council say it is not possible to obtain a copy. They insist that I need to pay £60 to view the microfiche along with a building reg officer present. At some point in the conversation it was mentioned that the building reg documents are not public like the planning ones, so I have no given right to see the documents.

Am I being given the runaround here and being taken for a ride, or is this standard practice? All I want is a hardcopy of the relevant section of the microfiche, and £60 seems like extortion. I don't see the value in having an officer present - he/she may be able to add some useful interpretation of the material, but equally they may not. It would be better it seems to me, to see the plans and then pay extra if there are questions.

Many thanks,
David.

 

[jeds]

They are correct that building regs documents are private so there is no right to see them. I can't see any way of getting around it without paying up. My concern would be that you might not learn much.

 

[theoldun]

Hi,
Am I being given the runaround here and being taken for a ride, or is this standard practice?
David.

Standard practice. Public Access System. Make application. Notified of fee. Pay fee. Receive information.
Regards oldun

 

[OwainDIYer]

Try a Freedom of Information Act request.

Check the council's Publications Schedule first which lays out the charges they can make for various documents. If it's not listed there with a charge, they are not allowed to charge.

You might also want to check how much the local library charges for a print from microfiche. If it's £1 each, then you can expect 600 prints for the £600 maximum cost under FOI.

 

[^woody^]

I recall a previous post where FMT said that these can be viewed via a FOI request

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Are you sure its not £60 fee to find the records?

@^woody^ tis tru, I was told by a Senior Inspector that FOI requests do apply to Building regs stuff. Tis also the reason that some councils have online searchable Building Regs records eg http://www.tandridge.gov.uk/Planning/BuildingControl/searchforbuildingregs.htm ;because it is public information.

 

[woodspiral]

Thanks for all the comments.

The structural engineer for the project confirmed that the rules over fees have just changed so that £60 is not normally charged. However may intend to use the private sector for our building control services and therefore their position may change on such fees! I'm awaiting to hear about that.

 

[woodspiral]

Well, the control department looked upon my request favourably and granted me free access to the microfiche! I may also be able to get a copy of the documents if the contractor who did the underpinning work gives their permission. Thanks to everyone for their advice.