General Information & Charges
PLEASE NOTE: All fees for search and copy documents/plans will be increasing as of 1st April 2012 for both Planning and Building Standards Sections. The new form and guidance notes are available via the link at the bottom of this page.
We can provide copies of Building Warrant consents, Certificates of Completion, associated documents, Letters of Comfort and, subject to some restrictions, copies of approved Building Warrant Plans.
A single charge of £75 is payable in respect of carrying out a search of our various records, file retrieval from the archive stores and providing you with copies of the documents you are seeking. Documents from a single file can be provided and this includes up to 20 plans per file; additional nominal copying charges become payable if more than 20 plans are required from a single file. A development having multiple units will attract a charge of £75 per unit for which information is sought, e.g. a search seeking information relative to multiple shops in a retail park. You should note that as the fee also contributes to the cost/time spent by our staff carrying out a search of various archives, if the search does not locate any file or documents there will be no refund, in whole or part, in respect of any searches which do not reveal any relevant files or documents.
Restriction on Providing Copies of Plans
By law we are only able to provide copies of plans under certain conditions:
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Non-Domestic properties - these are normally available for copying. In a small number of cases some non-domestic properties may have security issues identified. In situations where security issues apply, we are not permitted by law to produce copies of or even allow viewing of the plans; unless the building owner provides consent for you to obtain copies of or view the plans. If we hold the file, we can however provide copies of documents such as the Building Warrant consent, Certificate of Completion and associated documents for all non-domestic properties .
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Domestic properties - you can only obtain copies of or view the plans if you are the owner, occupier or tenant or the prospective owner, occupier or tenant of the relevant building or of an adjoining building. An adjoining building means one that is physically attached to the other. We are occasionally asked about this aspect in relation to detached houses - although the land boundaries may be adjoining, such properties are not considered to be adjoining for the purposes of access to plans of domestic premises.
Where we are able to provide plans, these will normally be provided in electronic format by email (subject to file size) or for larger file sizes these will be provided on CD. Paper copies may be provided if specifically requested at A4 or A3 size only (including plan extracts).
Copyright Issues
The law allows us to provide copies of plans as described above as we are providing a service under a statutory provision. It should be noted that all plans are likely to be subject to copyright and any plans provided to you must not be further copied or reused in any way without prior permission from the copyright owner. Reusing or further copying in whole or part may be a breach of copyright and the copyright holder may take action against you if you breach the copyright.
How to Apply for a Search/Copy of Document and Property History Search
An application form for a search/copy documents or history search may be downloaded from the following link
Application for Document, Plan Search
This can be completed electronically, saved and emailed back to us or alternatively it can be printed out and posted. Please follow the instructions on the application form relative to providing payment of the charge for this service.
Need Help?
If you require further information, clarification or have any questions regarding searches or copies of documents, please contact us.
