The short answer
For a home in Taunton, the local authority building control body is Somerset Building Control, the Local Authority Building Control service that works for Somerset Council. You can also choose a private registered building control approver instead. Either way, one body checks the work against the Building Regulations, and you pick which before the job starts, not afterwards.
Not every roof job needs an application, but those that do go to one of two kinds of body. Here is who they are and how to reach them.
Somerset Building Control and who it covers
Somerset Building Control, or SBC, describes itself as the largest Local Authority Building Control service in the South West. Four former district areas fall under it, among them Taunton and West, alongside Mendip, Sedgemoor and South Somerset. Since 1 April 2023 those four districts have been replaced by the single Somerset Council, so a Taunton address deals with one service for the whole county rather than a separate Taunton team.
How do you contact it?
Ring 0300 303 7790, or write to Bridgwater House, King Square, Bridgwater TA6 3AR. You can apply on the council's website, by email, or on paper. SBC asks people not to drop paperwork at the former district council offices, so anything on paper belongs at Bridgwater House.
Somerset addresses inside Exmoor are covered too, because the former West Somerset area sits within the service's footprint. Building control and planning are different systems. Planning inside the National Park is a separate matter, answered in our piece on who handles planning for roof work on Exmoor.
Full Plans or Building Notice
The two usual routes are a Full Plans application and a Building Notice. Full Plans means drawings and details are checked before work begins. Somerset Building Control quotes 10 working days for a first reply to Full Plans, and 5 weeks as the normal wait for a decision.
What is a Building Notice?
A Building Notice lets work start without plans being approved first, with the building control surveyor inspecting as the job goes on. SBC quotes 48 hours for the acknowledgment. It suits simpler work where the details are not in doubt, and the surveyor can still ask for something to be opened up or altered if it does not meet the Regulations.
The national test for re-roofing comes from the Planning Portal. Both limits have to hold: under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. Swapping to a covering that is 15 per cent heavier or more brings approval into play. No Somerset-only percentage for re-roofing exists, so a call to the team about your own roof is the way to be sure. What the surveyor wants to know is the weight of the covering you plan to lay compared with what is there now, and whether the timber under it is sound enough to carry it.
Fees and the November 2026 change
New charging regulations for building control are due to come into effect on 6 November 2026. SBC has promised to publish its new fee schedule a week or more ahead of that date. Because of that, any fee quoted on a website, ours included, could be out of date by the time you read it, so we leave the figures to the service itself.
How is a re-roof charged?
When a re-roof does need notifying, the calculator files it under a heading about thermal elements, the parts of a home that keep heat in. Insulation upgrades sit under that heading too, so the fee follows the energy rules and not the labour on the roof. Ask the roofer whether the building control fee is in their written price or paid by you directly, because that is a gap that can open up between two quotes.
A job that already finished without approval is not necessarily stuck. For work done after 11 November 1985, SBC takes regularisation applications, and our answer on regularisation for roof work explains the process.
Private registered building control approvers
Local authority building control is not the only choice. A homeowner can instead appoint a private building control body. Private building control existed before 2024; what is new is the registration regime, which came into force on 6 April 2024, and a private body is now called a registered building control approver. If one of them breaks the professional conduct rules, the regulator can issue sanctions.
Which should you choose?
Both kinds check the same Building Regulations, so the decision is about service, timing and cost, and you can ask each for a written quote. Whoever you pick, appoint them before work starts, and tell your roofer which body is involved so inspections can be booked while the roof is open.
One further point: if you are not sure the work is notifiable at all, a short call to Somerset Building Control is the quickest way to settle it. On our own jobs the survey is where this question gets settled, before a single written price is given. Start from our homepage to send photos for a first look.
More on building control
Do I need building control for repairing a few slates?
Normally not. Replacing a handful of slates touches so little of the envelope and the roof that the Planning Portal test is met easily. Weight changes the picture: a covering 15 per cent heavier or more needs approval, and a structural check as well. Name the covering you plan when you ring.
Who keeps the completion certificate?
Somerset Building Control says it holds records for 15 years and can supply copies of completion certificates. Keep your own copy with your deeds or house papers, since a buyer's solicitor may ask for it. A private approver will have its own arrangements, so ask what they are before you appoint one.
The full picture: Roofers in Taunton ยท More short answers