Consultation Document - Prescribed Fees ReviewArticle 13 of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (as amended) allows district councils to charge fees for the performance of prescribed functions in relation to building regulations.
The Department of Finance, through the Building (Prescribed Fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997 (as amended) (the Fees Regulations), sets the fees that can be charged by district councils for plans applications, inspections, regularisation and type approval functions in relation to applications for building regulations approvals for the construction, renovation or alteration of buildings.
The Fees Regulations have not been amended since 2013 and although fees Schedule 3 (predominantly non-domestic applications) are based on the cost of works and have increased as construction costs have increased, the fees set out in Schedule 1 and 2 have not altered since that time.
Therefore, the Department is consulting on proposals to uplift the fees set by Schedule 1 and 2 of the Fees Regulations as an interim measure alongside a wholesale review of the Fees Regulations.