Section 20 Consultation and Major Works in Torbay
The figures Torbay Council publishes, rather than a national average.
- Local authority
- Torbay Council
- Service
- Section 20 consultation
- County
- Devon
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 33 miles
Building Control in Torbay
Torbay's individually assessed threshold is £50,000, half Plymouth's and Exeter's. Any block re-roofing, external wall or window programme above that has no published price, and nor does any development of more than six units. Below it, the council's published 2026/27 schedule bundles replacement roof covering, render, internal plaster and insulation into one thermal element charge of £280, which is useful because a re-render is priced in the same category as a re-roof. Those figures come from the corporate fees book rather than the building control page, which publishes no table.
Planning in Torbay
Two Torbay rules reorder a works programme. First, a scaffold licence for a period of between 10 and 28 days is classed as major works and must be applied for three months in advance, with 28 days the maximum licence period and renewals needing ten days' notice. Compare Devon County Council's ten working days for Exeter, or Plymouth's rolling 28 day periods. Second, pre-application advice on works to a block is charged per unit: Torbay routes works to blocks of flats to its non-householder service at £115 per unit, while works to an individual flat are a flat £115. A 20 flat block seeking advice on external works with no new floorspace therefore pays £2,300. A listed building adds another 115.
What We Do About Section 20 Consultation in Torbay
Section 20 consultation in Torbay, and across Devon, is part of a full management service rather than a standalone product. What that means in practice:
- Budget against the fees Torbay Council publishes, not a national average, so the reserve figure survives contact with the invoice.
- Confirm what the current framework requires here before an application is made.
Fixed annual fee, no commission on contractor work.
How This Works, in General
The general law, for every area: Major Works and Section 20 Consultation.