Section 20 Consultation and Major Works in Bath
2 published tribunal decisions from in and around Bath, with what each one actually decided. The figures Bath and North East Somerset Council publishes, rather than a national average.
- Local authority
- Bath and North East Somerset Council
- Service
- Section 20 consultation
- County
- Somerset
- Published decisions
- 2 tribunal decisions
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 122 miles
Section 20 Cases Decided in and Around Bath
| Development | Case | What the tribunal decided, and why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| St Peter's Place, Lower Bristol Road | CHI/00HA/LDC/2020/0108 3 February 2021 | A model urgent works dispensation on a small Bath block: thermal damage found on communal lighting and the main circuit board, advised as a potential fire hazard. The company still served a notice of intention and obtained two quotes before applying. Note the tribunal reserved the money question entirely, as it always does: dispensation decides consultation, nothing else. |
| 17 to 32 Hillside Road, Moorfields | CHI/00HA/LDC/2023/0078 26 October 2023 | A full roof replacement on a 1968 block after patch repairs failed, with one resident's ceiling unsafe. What made it straightforward was the evidence trail: an independent condition survey, a hand delivered letter to every leaseholder, tender comparators from two identical blocks and an offer of an on-site meeting with the project surveyor. Do that and dispensation on the papers is close to routine. |
Building Control in Bath
Bath and North East Somerset publishes fixed fees for domestic work, 240 pounds for replacement windows or a renovated thermal element, but says in terms that for replacement windows in non-domestic buildings you must contact it for a quote. Communal work in a block therefore falls to its cost-based table, from 348 pounds up to 2,000 of work to 984 pounds up to 50,000, with anything larger by arrangement. Electrical work by a contractor outside a competent person scheme is charged on cost recovery plus 10 per cent. Unlike Bristol, the council publishes real service commitments: a next-day site inspection if booked before 5pm, and completion certificates issued within five working days of inspection.
Consent for External Works in Bath
Bath's conservation area covers 1,486 hectares with around 5,000 listed buildings, and the council publishes the specification rather than leaving it to argument. Bath stone ashlar was traditionally laid in regular course heights of 14 inches or 12 inches with 6 inch cill courses, and the council calls those heights fundamental. Reconstituted stone is refused because it does not weather as Bath stone does and the wider joints it needs make it look like concrete blockwork. Roofs are Welsh slate in soft blues and purples, and the characteristic terrace roof is an M shape with lead-lined front, back and central valley gutters, which is why re-roofing here costs what it does. One detail almost everyone gets wrong: railings and lamp standards were originally pale grey, and painting ironwork black dates only from the 1940s.
Planning in Bath
Stone cleaning and paint removal need a pre-cleaning survey and full details of the proposed method before consent, a requirement Bristol does not publish. Where architectural features are being altered the council wants elevations at 1:10 or 1:20 and sections at 1:1, 1:2 or 1:5. A damp remediation report must diagnose the cause and explore options, and must come from an independent specialist rather than a remedial treatment company with an interest in doing the work. Work to vaults or roof spaces may need a protected species survey. The council publishes its own outcome rate: it consents 95 per cent of listed building applications, on an average eight week timescale.
What We Do About Section 20 Consultation in Bath
The St Peter's Place, Lower Bristol Road decision above is the kind of thing this work is for. Section 20 consultation in Bath is part of a full management service, not a standalone product, and in practice it means:
- Keep the consultation paperwork in the state the tribunal has expected to see it in locally, from the first notice onward.
- Put Bath and North East Somerset Council's actual charges into the estimate, including the ones that only appear once scaffolding goes up.
- Settle consent before the specification is written. Getting that order wrong is what turns a straightforward repair into a retrospective one.
- Read the plan that is in force now, including where Bath and North East Somerset Council has said its own policies are out of date.
None of the above is billed separately. The management fee is a fixed annual amount and we take no commission on contractor work.
How This Works, in General
The law here is the same in Bath as it is anywhere in England, and it is set out in full on our major-works-section-20 page rather than repeated on this one. What changes locally is above: the authority, the figures, and what the tribunal has actually done with cases nearby.
Other Services in Bath
Section 20 Consultation and Major Works Elsewhere
Everything else we do in the area is on the Bath page, and the full matrix is at services by area.