Demolitions and dangerous structures
Demolitions
Section 80 of the Building Act 1984 places a duty on any person intending to carry out the demolition of a building to first give notice to the Local Authority of their intention to do so, unless that building falls within a small number of exemptions. You can find full details of the requirements and exemptions in our guidance notes on demolitions
Where a building falls within the scope of Section 80 of the Building Act, the person intending to carry out the works should submit a completed Notice of Intended Demolition form, along with a suitable site plan showing the extent of the works. The demolition works should not be commenced until either:
- The local authority has issued a counter notice to the person submitting the demolition notice, or
- A period of 6 weeks has elapsed since the demolition notice was submitted.
Please note, if you decide to demolish a building you may not necessarily get planning permission to rebuild, even if the existing building is damaged due to fire or storms. For more information visit: Planning Portal - Demolition - planning permission
Dangerous structures
Building control work closely with the police, fire service and other agencies to help ensure public safety when buildings and structures become dangerous. Buildings become dangerous for many reasons such as age, deterioration, settlement, impact by vehicles, explosion or fire damage. Other dangers can come from loose masonry or slates and unstable garden boundary walls. The prime responsibility for the condition of a building or structure lies with its owner however, the council has powers under the Building Act 1984 to deal with dangerous structures.
There are two main categories of dangerous structures:
Imminently dangerous
These structures are at imminent risk of collapse and must be secured for public safety. The owner will normally be recharged for emergency works carried out in these cases since the prime responsibility for the condition of a building or structure lies with its owner.
Dangerous
These structures are found to be unstable by building inspectors but not imminently dangerous. The owner is given a reasonable time to remove the danger. Failure to respond may result in a magistrates court order being obtained.
To report a dangerous structure please contact the building control team at building.control@westsuffolk.gov.uk or phone 01284 757393.
Our aim is to respond to any reports of possible dangerous structures and investigate them within two hours during normal office hours.
If you believe a building is imminently dangerous outside of normal office hours then please contact the out of hours emergency service - phone 01284 763252.