Building Control Services forms part of Milton Keynes Council.  This Privacy Notice sets out how we deal with your personal information within this Service.  It links in with the Council’s Corporate Privacy Notice and should be read alongside it.  For more details about our Corporate Privacy Notice, please visit MKC Corporate Privacy Notice.

This Notice explains how the information we collect about you is used and your rights in relation to that information.

There are several areas of the Building Control Service where information about you or your property is used. These are where the following has been carried out

1. a building regulations application is made for building works
2. specific building works are carried out and self-certified under a competent persons scheme
3. an investigation is carried out in relation to a dangerous structure
4. an investigation is carried out in relation to unauthorised building work
5. advice has been requested on specific matters via the Building Control helpline
6. pre-application advice has been requested in relation to Building Regulations compliance
7. completed customer questionnaires have been received following the issue of a completion certificate in relation to completed building works

The type of information that is held and the way it is used will be different in each of the above situations, as follows.

A building regulations application is made for building works

Personal information about you and your property, collected from you in order to register your building regulations application, is required by law. The main legislation which governs the type of information required is the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended) and the Building Act 1984. If you fail to provide the information required we will not be able to register the application and any building work you may carry out will be illegal.

The information you provide will be held and processed by the Building Control team. It may also be shared with our technical consultants, other Council departments and statutory bodies for the purposes of checking compliance with the technical and procedural requirements of the Building Regulations, and other legislation under the empowerment of the Council and the other statutory bodies.

In accordance with our retention policy, the personal information about you, and any correspondence accrued as part of the application process will be held for a period of 16 years from when the application is recorded as complete.

Specific works carried are carried out and self-certified under a competent persons scheme

Information from the competent persons scheme provider is automatically downloaded on to our database and any personal information is limited to your property address and details of the contractor carrying out the work. In accordance with our retention policy, this information will be held for a period of 16 years from when the work is recorded as complete.

An investigation is carried out in relation to a dangerous structure

In order to investigate and deal with a dangerous structure it may be necessary to obtain and hold some or all of the following information. Details of the property, the property owner and occupier, the person reporting the incident, and any vehicle (and associated persons) involved. Details of the property and the property owner are required under the Building Act 1984 in order to serve any necessary notices to make the structure safe.

The information provided will be held and processed by the Building Control team. It may also be shared with other departments within the Council who have a duty to take action in relation to other issues arising from the incident, and also with the emergency services and other parties involved in dealing with the incident.

The information will be held for a period of 6 months from when the structure is made safe and the case is closed.

An investigation is carried out in relation to unauthorised work

In order to investigate and deal with a report of unauthorised building work it will be necessary to obtain and hold details of the following information. Details of the property, the property owner and occupier, the person who physically carried out the unauthorised work and the person providing the notification of the work. These details are required under the Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended) in order to be able to investigate and take any enforcement action required in relation to the work.

The information provided will be held and processed by the Building Control team. It may also be shared with our technical consultants, other Council departments and statutory bodies for the purposes of checking compliance with the technical and procedural requirements of the Building Regulations, and other legislation under the empowerment of the Council and the other statutory bodies.

The information will be held for a period of 6 months from when the work is removed or completed in compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations.

Advice has been requested in relation to specific matters via the building control helpline

In order to be able to provide responses to any queries made regarding Building Regulations and the service we provide it will be necessary to obtain and hold details of the following information. Details of the property (if appropriate to the enquiry), name and contact details of the enquirer.

The information provided will be held and processed by the Building Control team. It may also be shared with other Council departments where a response to an enquiry would benefit from input by the other department.

In order to be of use in the event of further enquiries for the same property or where a subsequent Building Regulations application is made for work for which the original enquiry is made, in accordance with our retention policy, the information will be held for a period of 7 years.

Pre-application advice has been requested in relation to Building Regulations compliance

In order to be able to provide advice regarding Building Regulations compliance, it will be necessary to obtain and hold details of the following information. Details of the property/site relevant to the advice, name and contact details of the parties involved in receiving the advice.

The information you provide will be held and processed by the Building Control team. It may also be shared with our technical consultants, other Council departments and statutory bodies for the purposes of checking compliance with the technical and procedural requirements of the Building Regulations, and other legislation under the empowerment of the Council and the other statutory bodies.

The personal information and any correspondence accrued as part of the process of providing the advice will be retained for a period of 3 years, or 16 years in the event that the process is followed up by a formal Building Regulations application, where the information and correspondence may be used as the basis for that application. In the latter situation, the 16 years will commence from the date when the formal Building Regulations application is made.

Completed customer questionnaires have been received following the issue of a completion certificate in relation to completed building works

In order to provide feedback on our service a customer questionnaire form is sent to a property owner, with a completion certificate, on satisfactory completion of building works carried out at that property. The form as it is sent out does not include any personal data. It does include the reference number for the Building Regulations application to which it relates. This enables the Building Control team to understand the relevance of any comments made on the form.

The completed and returned questionnaires are held and processed by the Building Control team. Anonymised data is extracted from the forms for statistical and reporting purposes in evaluating the performance of the team. Returned forms may also include a request from the person completing the form for us to contact them. In this case the name and contact information will be recorded.

The completed questionnaires will be retained for a period of 12 months from date of receipt to allow statistical data to be gathered.

General information

You have various rights around the data we hold about you.  You can find out more about these on our MKC Corporate Privacy Notice

However where we are processing your personal data under a legal obligation you only have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to be informed about the collection and use of your personal information, for incorrect information to be corrected (where the law permits) and to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information. In certain circumstances you have the right to object to the processing of your personal information.  Your information will not be subjected to automated decision-making and is not portable.  If you wish to access your rights with regard to this, please contact our Data Protection Officer as below.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office about the way we are handling your personal information. Details on how you can do this can be found at https://ico.org.uk/