Tynwald has approved revised fees payable for the checking of plans and inspecting of building work by the Department of Infrastructure’s Building Control Officers.
 
The Building (Fees) Regulations 2013, which have been made under section 37 of the Building Control Act 1991, came into force on 1st August 2013.
 
Minister for Infrastructure David Cretney explained: ‘The revised fees will help achieve a greater level of cost recovery contribution towards the provision of the Building Control service to our customers, while still ensuring that the level of fees is competitive and, in many cases, lower than in other jurisdictions’.
 
Laurence Skelly, Departmental Member responsible for Planning added:  ‘The new regulations provide for a three-year period of fees based on an annual increase of 3.5%, as opposed to the current arrangement of bringing building fee increases to Tynwald on an annual basis. This new arrangement will give a degree of certainty on future fees for the building industry as they bring forward schemes for construction over the next 3 years.’
 
The approval at the July sitting of Tynwald followed a public consultation undertaken by the Department between 14th February and 3rd April 2013, to which there were 10 responses, none of which stated they were against the proposed increases.