What building control costs for a commercial re-roof
Updated 23 October 2026 · SEO Dons Editorial
Check your re-roof against the rules ↓
Who sets the building control fee on a re-roof?
It depends on the route, and there is no national fee. A council charges under a scheme it publishes itself. A private registered building control approver negotiates its fee with the client, and the council may add a charge for processing the approver’s notices. A roofer registered with a competent person scheme self-certifies, so no building notice or application goes to the council. The building control routes guide explains the three routes; this page covers what each costs and what to ask about. The Competent Roofer scheme is explained on the accreditations page.
What do the rules say about council charges?
GOV.UK says local authorities base their fees on their costs. The charging rules for England are changing: the Building (Local Authority Charges and Amendments Relating to Charging) (England) Regulations 2026 were made on 14 October 2026 and laid before Parliament on 15 October 2026. They come into force 22 days after being laid, which is 6 November 2026, and revoke the 2010 charges regulations for England. Existing charging schemes carry on as if made under the new Regulations, except that a provision giving the first hour of advice without charge ends on the commencement date.
Under the new Regulations:
- the amount of any charge is set by the council under a published scheme, and across a financial year the charges must as far as possible equate to the council’s costs;
- the client pays, and an application made without payment of the application charge is not validly made;
- a council that misses the time limit for deciding an application must refund the application charge;
- if less work is needed than estimated the council must refund the difference, and if more is needed it must raise a supplementary charge.
What do councils publish for roof renovation?
Four councils show four approaches. Their figures use different bases, including or excluding VAT, so read each as that council’s own statement and not as a typical price. None of them is an estimate for a particular roof.
| Council | How it prices | Published figure | Date on the page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford Borough Council | Non-domestic line for renovation of a thermal element up to a value of £50,000 | Plan charge £280.79 plus VAT, inspection charge nil; regularisation charge £352.80 | Valid from 1 January 2026 |
| Peterborough City Council | Non-domestic Table F line for renovation of a thermal element with an estimated value of work up to £50,000 | £195 (£234 including VAT) for full plans; building notice n/a; regularisation £412.50 | Page last updated 2 April 2026; states fees valid from 6 May 2019 |
| Coventry City Council | Commercial table banded by estimated market-rate value, not by type of work | Application charge £325 plus inspection charge £740 (under £15k), £850 (under £30k) or £955 (under £75k); VAT included; building notice N/A | Fees from 1 April 2026 |
| Preston City Council | No standard line | Fee for non-domestic work calculated on an individual basis | Charges effective 1 April 2026 |
The building notice column reads n/a in Peterborough’s and Coventry’s non-domestic tables; regulation 12(3) requires an application with full plans for building work on buildings the Fire Safety Order applies to. Peterborough asks for a quote on alterations costing more than £20,000.
What changes the fee?
- Estimated value, not roof area. Bedford caps its thermal-element line at a value, and Peterborough and Coventry band by estimated cost or value. Peterborough says the estimate should be a reasonable amount as would be charged by a person in business to do the work, excluding professional fees, land and VAT.
- Category. Peterborough charges the main fee for the principal category of work and 50% of that category’s fee for subsequent works shown on the plans.
- Inspections. Coventry derives its inspection charge from the anticipated number of visits and charges for each additional inspection once the maximum is reached. Bedford applies a supplementary hourly rate where a repeat visit is needed because work is defective or access is not available.
- Duration. Bedford and Peterborough say their charges assume the work does not exceed 12 months from commencement to completion, and Bedford says a longer programme may attract a supplementary charge unless identified when the application is made. Phased re-roofs are the obvious case.
- VAT. Bedford adds VAT to all application charges except regularisation and reversion; Coventry includes VAT except on regularisation.
What does the approver route cost?
GOV.UK says private approvers negotiate their fees directly with you. Separately, the new charging Regulations let a council charge for accepting or rejecting an approver’s initial notice and final certificate, called an RBCA charge, payable when the notice or certificate is given to the council. They also add that the council’s time limits for dealing with an approver’s notices run from the day the notice is given or the day the charges are paid, whichever is later. Ask the approver for its fee in writing and ask the council for its published scheme.
What does the competent person scheme route cost?
The NFRC Competent Person Scheme says that, because the contractor does not have to get building control to check its work, customers benefit from lower prices as there are no building control fees. The costs do not vanish. The scheme publishes its own fee schedule for contractors, with charges for site inspections and certificates, and on commercial work it sets the number of inspections by risk and complexity. Whether those costs sit inside the contractor’s price is a matter for the tender, so ask.
What should a quote say about building control?
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which route is priced? | Council, approver and scheme charge on different bases |
| Are the scheme notification and certificate included? | The contractor bears the scheme’s costs and may or may not itemise them |
| Are council application and inspection charges included, or provisional? | Supplementary charges can follow repeat visits or a programme over 12 months |
| Who pays the approver, and who pays the council’s RBCA charge? | The client pays the council’s charge under the new Regulations |
| Is VAT included? | Council schedules differ, and regularisation is treated differently |
The re-roof specification guide covers where these lines belong in a tender, and the cost guide covers what drives the price of the roof itself. If the work was done without any route, the completion certificate guide covers regularisation. Whether to repair or replace is a separate decision, set out in the repair or replace guide.
Sources
- The Building (Local Authority Charges and Amendments Relating to Charging) (England) Regulations 2026 and Building Regulations 2010, regulation 12, legislation.gov.uk, checked 22 October 2026
- GOV.UK: How to apply, checked 22 October 2026
- Council charges: Bedford Borough Council (valid from 1 January 2026), Peterborough City Council (last updated 2 April 2026), Coventry City Council (fees from 1 April 2026), Preston City Council (effective 1 April 2026), checked 22 October 2026
- NFRC Competent Person Scheme: commercial and fees pages, checked 22 October 2026
Common questions
Is there a building control fee if a scheme-registered roofer does the work?
The NFRC scheme says customers benefit from lower prices because there are no building control fees, as the contractor does not have to get building control to check its work. The contractor still pays the scheme for inspections and certificates, so ask whether those costs are included in the tender.
Why do two councils charge differently for the same kind of roof work?
Each council sets its own scheme to recover its own costs, so the structure, the bands and the treatment of VAT differ. Bedford, Peterborough and Coventry, for example, publish different lines on different bases, and Preston prices non-domestic work individually.
Can a council refund the fee?
Under the 2026 charging Regulations a council that does not give notice of its decision on an application within the required period must refund the application charge. It must also refund any charge for work that proved unnecessary, and raise a supplementary charge if more work than estimated is needed.
Does regularisation cost more than doing it properly the first time?
In both schedules the regularisation figure is the larger one. Bedford lists £352.80 against a plan charge of £280.79 plus VAT for the same thermal element line, and Peterborough lists £412.50 against £195 (£234 including VAT). The completion certificate guide covers what a council can require when work was done without approval.
Related guides
Check your re-roof against the rules
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