UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998

the instrument as a whole of The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998

The provision has been revoked and no saving provision preserving liability for earlier conduct was found.

What the provision says

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section

35 of the Building Act 1984. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 35 of the Building Act 1984.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Revoked
Revoked by
The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 2010
Revoked on
1 April 2010
Made
14 December 1998
In force from
1 April 1999
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: the instrument was revoked by a later instrument found in this corpus.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These regulations authorise local authorities to fix and recover charges for the performance of their building regulations control functions according to a scheme governed by principles laid down in the regulations. The regulations make each local authority responsible for setting their own building regulations charges for the five functions prescribed; and for doing so within the accounting and administrative requirements laid down in the regulations. The regulations revoke the Building (Prescribed Fees) Regulations 1994 (“the 1994 Regulations”). Regulation 2 contains definitions. Differences from the 1994 Regulations include the following: “carport” is now defined; the definition of “small domestic building” now incorporates connected drainage building work and an increased total floor area of a dwelling of 300m2; and the definition of “building work” ensures that work such as underpinning, installation of insulation material in cavity walls, and the installation of unvented hot water systems comes within the provisions of these regulations. Regulation 3 provides the authority for a local authority to fix their charges by means of a scheme and recover those charges in respect of the five building regulations control functions defined in Regulation 4. Regulation 4 sets out the five charges which may be made for the five different control functions of the Building Regulations and prescribes the mathematical relationship which must apply between them. Regulation 5 prescribes the principles of the scheme in respect of the income to be derived by a local authority from the charges it fixes. The basic principle, subject to an exception in regulation 5(2), is that the income derived over any 3 year period shall not be less than the costs directly or indirectly incurred. The Regulation also prescribes the method for estimating any of the costs and requires the preparation of a statement setting out the scheme and matters relating to it. Regulation 5(3) excludes the costs from the provision of this regulation in respect of functions carried out on building work solely for disabled persons. Regulation 6 prescribes the main principle on which the charges are to be determined and fixed in the scheme: that, with the exception of certain types of residential building work prescribed in Regulation 7, charges shall be related to the estimated cost of the building work. Regulation 6(2) provides additionally that the use and type of building work involved are to be taken into account when fixing the charges. Regulation 6(3) prescribes a discretion not to charge for the inspection function where the estimated cost of work falls below £5,000. Regulations 6(4) and 6(5) contain special provisions relating to the installation of cavity fill insulation and unvented hot water systems. Regulation 6(6) continues the principle of the 1994 Regulations that charges relating to small domestic buildings and domestic garages, carports and extensions are to be based on floor area. Regulation 7 provides for determining charges for the erection of one or more small domestic buildings and the erection of certain garages, carports or extensions. Where more than one extension is involved, the floor areas must be aggregated and charged according to floor area up to a limit of 60m2. Regulation 8 provides a discretion for a local authority to fix reductions to their charges in their scheme in two circumstances. The first is where building work contained in one application or building notice is in respect of two or more buildings or building works which are substantially the same. The second is in respect of an application or building notice in respect of building work which is substantially the same as that previously approved or previously inspected by the same local authority and where the owner of the plans or the person giving the notice is the same. Regulation 9 provides that no charges shall be fixed or charged in respect of certain specified building work solely required for the purposes of disabled persons. Regulation 10 deals with payment. It provides the point at which the five different charges are payable, together with any VAT; for any charges to be paid by instalments by agreement; for refunds in certain circumstances; and whom will be responsible for payment of the different types of charge. Regulation 11 relates to the submission of estimates in respect of the depositing of plans, or the giving of a notice, or the reverting of building work to the local authority. Regulation 12 requires a local authority to publish its scheme within the local authority area within 7 days of making, amending or revoking it, and to provide details including the date it is to come into effect and where it can be inspected. The Regulation also requires that the scheme should be kept up-to-date and available for inspection by any member of the public free of charge. Regulation 13 prevents contravention of any of the regulations from being an offence under the Building Act 1984. Regulation 14 contains transitional provisions. Regulation 15 prescribes fees payable to the Secretary of State where questions are referred to him for a determination under sections 16 and 50 of the Building Act 1984. Because these Regulations do not impose new or additional types of charges, a Regulatory Impact Assessment has not been prepared.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.50.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.50 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source