About Us
Quality
Quality of Service is paramount amongst the service delivery aims of the Welsh local authorities and the building control service is at the forefront of this ideal. Many authorities offer Quality Assurance, Investors in People, or Charter Mark status providing reassurance that quality is built in to the everyday service.
Partnership
Building control staff throughout the region are anxious to provide a competitive and impartial service to all customers. Many of the region’s local authorities encourage direct contact with our customers not only at site level, but also by way of effective regular customer surveys.
As a result of their surveys, many authorities now offer quicker turnaround on full plans applications, personal contact within each authority for advice and assistance before and during the project and information fact sheets on application procedures and exemptions. Telephone contact and general advice discussions are the norm. In most instances a same day inspection service can be provided.
Type Approval
The Wales Region takes an active part promoting Type Approval. The overall objectives are to contribute locally and nationally to maintaining a high professional standard of building control service, particularly by pooling the experiences of each local authority within the region to ensure consistency of approach in all building control matters. Cymru LABC Wales promotes local authority building control in the region through organising conferences and seminars on changes and updates to Approved Documents.
Developers and professionals will find these events held throughout the region. We are always pleased to hear from our customers both in writing and by telephone.
Geographical Details
The geographical area of Wales is varied and contrasting. In the North the untouched coastline of sandy bays and cliffs and elegant coastal towns such as Beaumaris, coastal resorts of Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Prestatyn contrast with the border lands with its mountains and valleys around Llangollen. The Snowdonia Mountains, a national park, contrast with the coastal charm of the Lleyn Peninsula.
Mid Wales is Wales’ rural heartland, an area of market towns, mountain roads and borderlands. The area contains the Brecon Beacons National Park. West Wales, traditional Wales, where Victorian Aberystwyth and a strip of smaller resorts nestle along Cardigan Bay contrast with the scenic Teifi Valley, gentle farmlands and wild Cambrian Mountains.
In Pembrokeshire, secluded bays and towering cliffs are part of Britain’s only coastal National Park, with picturesque Tenby and historic St David’s. To the south of the region lies Swansea and neighbouring Gower. The City with its stunning maritime quarter stands on a sandy bay. Gower’s untouched coastline was Britain’s first area of outstanding natural beauty. Close by are the green hills of the vale of Neath stretching to the exciting regeneration of the Eastern Valleys contrasting with the Capital City, Cardiff, with its world class shopping centre and exciting new water front complements the dramatic coast of Barry and Porthcawl, nestling by the Vale Countryside and Welsh hills.
Geological Factors
The geology of Wales is extremely varied and has profoundly influenced the development of the region. The coal measures of the South Wales Valleys and North East Wales and the slate mines and quarries of the North West which were at their peak during the late 19th and 20th centuries can post problems for builders when old mine workings are encountered. Building control departments in many areas of the region are involved with specialist foundation designs where land in the past has been the subject of mining activities.
The coal measures of South Wales focused the industrial revolution of the region. The problems of spoil heaps and industrial waste, together with extensive land reclamation, due to the demise of the traditional heavy industries and coal mining, require careful foundation design and site investigation.
Local authorities hold valuable information for developers in these areas and contact with local authority building control with its highly developed local knowledge and records is advisable.
Demographic Factors
Wales has a population of approximately 2.8 million of which approximately 0.5 million are Welsh speaking. Local authorities provide a bilingual building control service and are actively encouraging the use of Welsh through utilising bilingual forms and information sheets.
By far the dominant conurbations in the region lie in the traditional industrial South Wales. Industrial and commercial activity in this area can be attributed to the industrial revolution in the first half of the 18th century. The next hundred to hundred and fifty years saw
the region as a metallurgical centre and contained ports of world importance, expanding rapidly in size and population.
Most of the heavy industry produced waste, some of it poisonous, which was tipped in mounds wherever convenient near the works. By the second half of the 20th century a reshaping of the region was well underway. Traditional industries have all but disappeared. Colliery Tips have been levelled and metal works demolished to make way for new factories or shopping complexes.
To diversify the regions economic base, considerable effort to develop the potential of the heritage industry and tourism has taken place. In the south the majority of the workplace is now employed in services, new light, high technology industry. The region has also developed as a dormitory for those who live locally and work elsewhere, with increasingly important functions as a retirement and resort region.
Infrastructure
South Wales is well served by road and rail networks. The M4 corridor extends past Swansea and the A40 to the South West. The M5 allows easy access to Birmingham, the Midlands and the cities of the South West.
North Wales is served by the upgraded A55 Expressway along the North Wales coast from Chester to Holyhead.
Rail links are well established and air travel will deliver the passenger to the International Cardiff Wales Airport. The main rail links from London are to Holyhead along the North West coast and to South and West Wales along the South Coast. Connections are easily made to all towns and cities in the Principality.
Industrial and Commercial Trends
The traditional industries of mining (coal and slate), heavy engineering, metal works and docks trade have diminished over the years, to be replaced by light engineering, high-tech industry and manufacturing. Many areas of the region have benefited from urban regeneration which has stimulated new growth, providing investment and development opportunities.
The trend towards revitalising docklands with new mariners continues. Tourism and leisure play an increasingly important role in the economy of the region. The electrical and electronic industries are a well established part of the economic scene especially in the South where the area has benefited from substantial inward investment from Japan, Korea and the USA.
The Welsh Development Agency is active throughout Wales encouraging and supporting economic growth throughout the Principality.