Do You Need Building Regulations for a New Kitchen?

When a new kitchen needs building regulations approval

For a like-for-like refit the answer is usually no. Work to refit a kitchen with new units and fittings does not generally require building regulations approval, the Planning Portal says, but drainage or electrical works that form part of the refit may. A kitchen installed in a room that had none is likely to need approval, so that the room has adequate ventilation and drainage and meets the requirements for structural stability, electrical safety and fire safety.

One refit can include jobs on both sides of that line, such as new units that need no approval and a new cooker circuit that is notifiable. Work out which rows below apply before you agree a start date with the fitter, because several of them bring in someone else: an electrician who can self-certify, a Gas Safe registered engineer or building control.

Kitchen job	What it needs	Source
A like-for-like refit with new units and fittings	Building regulations approval is not generally needed	Planning Portal
New drainage work as part of the refit	May need building regulations approval	Planning Portal
A new circuit for a cooker	Notifiable, so a registered competent person self-certifies it, or building control or, in England, a registered third-party certifier approves it	Planning Portal; Building Regulations 2010, regulation 12
An extra socket on an existing kitchen circuit	Not notifiable, because a kitchen is not a special location	Building Regulations 2010, regulation 12
Connecting a gas cooker	Anyone employed to do it must be a Gas Safe registered engineer competent in that work	HSE
A kitchen in a room that had none	Likely to need approval for ventilation, drainage, structural stability, electrical and fire safety	Planning Portal
Building work to a listed building	Listed building consent for most work, internal and external	Nottingham City Council

Cooker circuits, sockets and Part P

The Planning Portal lists three kinds of notifiable electrical work: a new consumer unit or fuse box, a complete new circuit, for example a new circuit for a cooker, and alterations to existing circuits, but only in special locations. The duty comes from regulation 12 of the Building Regulations 2010, which requires a building notice or an application for building control approval with full plans for work covered by Part P of Schedule 1 when it is a new circuit, a replacement consumer unit, or an addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location.

The same regulation defines a special location in England as either a set space around a bath or shower, or a room containing a swimming pool or sauna heater. A kitchen is neither, so adding a socket to an existing kitchen circuit is not notifiable, while a new circuit for a cooker is.

Who can sign off a new cooker circuit

It is best to use an installer registered with a competent person scheme, who can self-certify that the work complies with the building regulations, the Planning Portal says. If the installer is not registered, the Planning Portal’s safety guidance says the work must be inspected, approved and certificated by a building control body, meaning the council or a private registered building control approver, or, in England only, by an electrician registered with a third-party certification scheme.

A registered electrician should give you a completed Electrical Installation Certificate showing the work has been tested for safety, and arrange for you to receive a Building Regulations compliance certificate within 30 days and for the council to be notified, the same guidance says.

Kitchen extractor fan regulations

Any new kitchen should be provided with a means of extract ventilation to reduce condensation and remove smells, the Planning Portal’s ventilation guidance says. If you are refurbishing a kitchen, any existing extract ventilation has to be retained or replaced, and where there is no existing ventilation system you need not provide one, though you can if you wish.

Gas cookers and Gas Safe engineers

Anyone employed to work on gas appliances in your home must be a Gas Safe registered engineer and competent in that area of gas work, the HSE says. That includes anyone you pay to connect a gas cooker or hob in the new kitchen, so a fitter who is not registered leaves the gas connection to an engineer who is.

Gas Safe registered engineers carry an ID card showing which appliances they are qualified to work on, with those competencies on the back, the HSE says. You can check an engineer with the Check an Engineer service on the Gas Safe Register website, on the freephone helpline 0800 408 5500, or by texting “Gas” and their seven-digit licence number to 85080, HSE guidance on checking an engineer says.

When a Gas Safe engineer connects a gas cooker, Checkatrade says they fit or replace the bayonet fitting or flexible hose, carry out a tightness test, check the ventilation and flue requirements, and issue a Building Regulations compliance certificate for the work.

Listed buildings in Nottingham

Nottingham City Council says you will need to apply for listed building consent for most building work, internal and external, to a listed building. Because internal work counts, a kitchen refit in a listed home can need consent even where it needs no building regulations approval. The council’s My Property map shows whether a property is listed.

Certificates to keep after a new kitchen

The paperwork comes from several people, and handing the trades to one kitchen company does not change what you should end up with. Among the ten Nottingham kitchen fitters we compare, L&M Interiors supplies, fits and manages every part of the project, including building work, plastering, tiling, plumbing and electrics, and Kitchen Design Studio’s own fitting team manages the whole installation. Whoever you choose, ask at quote stage who will arrange each of these.