Building Control Consultants

Sweco Building Control is one of the leading Building Control consultancies in England and Wales, having provided client-focused expertise since 1998. As a Registered Building Control Approver (RBCA), we directly employ around 100 Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs), with 13 offices offering national UK coverage.

Clarifying the complex in Building Control

In Building Control projects, clarity is paramount. These projects often involve a myriad of regulations, standards, and technical specifications that can be daunting and confusing to navigate. The stakes are high, as ensuring compliance not only impacts the safety and functionality of buildings but also the wellbeing of the people who occupy or visit them.

By effectively de-mystifying these complexities, Sweco can help you foster better communication, streamline processes, and mitigate risk. This clarity not only helps in navigating the often intricate landscape of building regulations but also enhances collaboration among architects, engineers, contractors, and regulatory bodies, ultimately leading to successful project outcomes.

In an industry where precision is key, our unique ability to simplify challenges and obstacles can be a game-changer in achieving compliance and delivering high-quality buildings. Sweco Building Control’s approach is to listen and engage with you and your stakeholders to anticipate the regulatory issues that need resolving and work in partnership to deliver a successful project. We understand that our advice and recommendations need to be tailored to suit individual requirements, and our RBIs therefore adopt a collaborative and flexible approach at every phase of Building Control consultancy.

We look to work with Duty Holders who are clear on their duties under the Building Safety Act and who understand the value a class-leading RBCA can bring. We pride ourselves in ensuring that our RBI’s have a manageable number of projects at any time to ensure they meet the highest standards of service we set out to achieve.

Russell Conisbee Head of Sweco Building Control

The only ISO 17020 accredited RBCA in the UK

Long before Dame Judith Hackett’s assertions regarding conflict of interest, we identified the need to provide the highest level of assurance around the impartiality of our service.

In 2018 we became the first, and still the only, Registered Building Control Approver to gain accreditation under ISO 17020. This standard is built around the ISO 9001 standard with additional clauses to ensure that all our services are provided with the highest levels of impartiality to prevent commercial, financial, or other matters of compromise.

50% of Sweco RBI’s are registered at Level 3 or 4, with the remaining RBI’s evenly split between Level 2 and 1. We are proud that all of our Level 1’s are all part of our growing in-house apprenticeship scheme, which demonstrates our commitment to playing our part in resolving the resource issues in our industry as a whole to nurture the next generation of class-leading Building Inspectors and #DifferenceMakers.

Setting the (gold) standard for operational capability

The Building Safety Act in particular puts great emphasis on “organisational capability” (defined as management policies, systems, procedures, and resources) as a benchmark for interrogating an RBCA’s credentials.

We believe our Organisational Capability at Sweco sets the gold standard for the Building Control industry, with the independent bodies who have audited Sweco Building Control commenting on the excellence of our processes and critically, process adherence.

Specifically, we have recently been subject to audits from the Building Safety Regulator, CICAIR and ANAB, all of whom have identified and acknowledged our class-leading system.

For example, our ways of working allow stakeholders to access plan check trackers and site inspection records to understand the real time situation and upload information in response to any observations we have made around the design or construction compliance.

Roots in the Sky | Award-winning sustainability-first office scheme – learn more

Finsbury Tower | 13-storey extension to existing 16-storey building (Image ©Jack Hobson)

Great Northern Warehouse | Historic Grade-II listed city centre hub – learn more

20 Ropemaker Street | New 25-storey commercial building (image ©Make Architects)

Olympia Redevelopment | London’s newest cultural landmark

Renaissance, Manchester | Outdated hotel given new lease of life – learn more

Hard Rock Café London | Fit-out compliance at famous flagship store – learn more

Station Street, Nottingham | Self-contained city centre student accommodation – learn more

Viadux Manchester |Grade II listed site brought into modern day with tower development – learn more

Leonardo Hotel, Manchester | Architecturally acclaimed hotel declared ‘amazing’ by planners – learn more

Exchange Square, Birmingham (Phases 1 & 2) | Multi-purpose residential development in an urban village – learn more

Ma6nitude, Middlewich | North West off-motorway industrial scheme offers links to rest of UK – learn more

Discovery Quay 2, Salford | Phase 2 of high specification student accommodation – learn more

Boulevard Hotel, Blackpool | £12m luxury seaside hotel in iconic seaside resort – learn more

Embankment West, Salford | Premium apartment development in Salford – learn more

St Albans Place, Leeds | Student accommodation close to University of Leeds – learn more

Uptown Riverside, Manchester | Modular-built apartments on the banks of River Irwell – learn more

Pringle Homes, Northcote Park | 42 unique, luxury homes spread across a 13-acre site in the Ribble Valley – learn more

AstraZeneca, Macclesfield | Future pharmaceutical growth enabled with development of sophisticated site – learn more

Health Innovation One, Lancaster | Facility encourages educational and community collaboration – learn more

Local Crescent, Salford | Safe, stylish and sky-high: high spec living spaces in Salford – learn more

Leading the compliance conversation

Sweco is also widely recognised as a Building Control agenda-setter, with knowledge-sharing, training and development at the core of our offering both for colleagues and clients.

We proactively provide CPD updates on Building Regulation topics and challenges to our clients, while the internal learning and development opportunities available to all our RBI’s is of the highest standard – we recognise the world of construction compliance is complex and ever-changing and we are committed to ensuring our teams are able to continue as #DifferenceMakers across all areas of buildings compliance and regulation.

As scrutiny increases on our industry, we continue to set the standards for enhanced consultancy and digital services that allow duty holders and accountable persons to have the higher level of certainty – and documented accountability – required to meet their obligations.

Neil Badley Head of Technical Standards and Learning & Development

Why choose Sweco Building Control services?

  • Sweco Building Control has been successfully trading for 20 years and are proud of our unblemished record of no litigation or payment disputes since its formation.
  • A single-point-of-contact approach gives benefits in consistent interpretation of Building Regulation issues and ultimately assists value engineering.
  • Our efficient and fast response service is tailored to suit your needs and timescales.
  • Our director-led service delivery ensures you get the highest levels of service and care. We have quality systems which aim to exceed national Building Regulation Performance Standards.
  • Our experienced team are the go-to Building Control team when it comes to high rise and mixed-use development. Our expert Technical Directors have the experience that clients need to ensure compliance with the Building Safety Act and Building Regulations Legislation.
  • Sweco have the advantage of being able to call upon other specialists within the Buildings and Urban Areas Divisions to help support compliance review.
  • We are the only UK Building Control Body Accredited to ISO 17020 in relation to impartiality.

Building Safety Act 2022 guidance

The Building Safety Act 2022 (applicable to England and Wales) is set to transform how tall structures are designed, constructed and managed, with the Government describing the changes proposed as the biggest for almost four decades. Below is our quick guide for the 5 key priorities for compliance.

Building Safety Act 2022 Summary of Priorities

 

In focus: sustainable offices

With the drive to reach net zero carbon targets, we have seen the emergence of many innovative modern methods of construction over recent years. Many of the drivers are based around embodied carbon targets but there are also many practical advantages such as speed of construction, reduced health and safety risk and reduced substructure works.

Sweco is committed in playing our part and are currently regulating many of the most challenging sustainable office developments in the UK. Sweco is the leading Building Control team when it comes to sustainable office development. We have specialist experts able to support compliance solutions when it comes to Modern Methods of Construction such as Modular Systems, CLT or Mass timber, and light weight steel.

We have developed a “route to compliance” and published guidance that clients are able to use to help support them. We are able to access our network of experts including institutes from Sweden and Switzerland who are at the centre of developing the global standards for MMC regulation.

IMPARTIALITY STATEMENT

Sweco’s Building Control/Approved Inspector function is carried out by Sweco (Building Control) Limited. This is a separate company with different directors to Sweco UK and all other Sweco companies. This is communicated throughout the business and to external clients. This ensures that the function is carried out impartially and is perceived to be impartial. You can view our full impartiality statements here.