Planning permission
You do not need planning permission to underpin your building provided that:
the land is not registered as a listed building or place (LBP) or a potential listed building or place (pLBP)
the land does not fall within an area of archaeological potential (AAP) or a conservation area (CA)
If the work does relate to a listed building you will need to contact the Historic Environment Team before any underpinning takes place.
Is my building or site listed?
Building permission
If you need to underpin all or part of the foundations of your building, building bye-laws apply. The building bye-laws specifically define this as 'building work' therefore appropriate measures must be applied to ensure the underpinning stabilises the movement of the building.
Particular attention will need to be given to any sewers and drains near the work.
The reasons for underpinning are generally:
- the existing foundations of the building have moved – this is caused by poor soil or changes to the soil conditions (eg subsidence has occurred)
- there has been a decision to add another storey to the building, either above or below ground level, and the depth of the existing foundations is inadequate to support the modified building or load (weight) of it
Making an application - building control