Fenland’s Largest Architectural Practice Streamlines Building Control Applications By Applying Online

Nigel Lowe is Senior Technician at Peter Humphrey Associates, Fenland’s largest architectural practice. The practice undertake all types of building projects including new build, conversions, extensions and refurbishments both in the domestic and commercial fields.

Until recently, submitting application forms for Building Control Applications was a laborious and time consuming process. Each application previously required completed application forms and drawings to be prepared together with packaging and posting. The whole process could take several hours. With the large numbers of applications that Peter Humphreys Associates completes every month this equated to a significant amount of unproductive time.

Nigel Lowe was introduced to the LABC Submit-a-Plan Portal for electronic Building Control applications by Nick Seaton, Building Control Manager at Fenland District Council after going live with the system.

Nigel comments: “Since being introduced to the LABC Submit-a-Plan Portal we have not looked back. I have recommended that everybody in the company uses it, an application can now be completed in less than ten minutes; this is a much more efficient process. Not only that, because www.submit-a-plan.com is a National LABC portal it means which ever authority we need to submit an application to we complete the same standard forms, this makes the process easier and faster for us. We have been using the Planning Portal for electronic Planning applications and I was pleased to be informed that the details from applications made on www.planningportal.gov.uk will be available on the LABC Submit-a-Plan Portal ready for a Building Control application. This means no double inputting of information, the applications will virtually complete themselves.”

Nick Seaton , Building Control Manager at Fenland District Council comments:

“…we knew that electronic applications were the way forward, and our customer feed back proves it. We made a conscious decision from the start of the project not just to install a system, but to embrace technology and new methods of working for the benefit of our customers…”

Fenland District Council now receives 23% of Full Plan Applications electronically though the LABC Submit-a-Plan Portal in less than a year since going live.