Planning Act 1998 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Development and Subdivision of Land
20A. Power to require as-built plans
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2017.
Subject to subsection (2), the competent authority may, in respect of any development of any land or any works within a conservation area authorised in a planning permission or conservation permission, require a developer to submit, in such form as the competent authority may require —
as-built plans of the development or works prepared by a land surveyor in accordance with the requirements specified by the competent authority;
a declaration by the land surveyor who prepared the as‑built plans that the as‑built plans have been prepared by the land surveyor in accordance with the requirements mentioned in paragraph (a); and
such other documents as the Minister may prescribe.
Subsection (1) applies at any time after the commencement of the development or works but before —
development
“development” means the carrying out of any building, engineering, mining, earthworks or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any building or land, and “develop” and “developing” are to be construed accordingly.(2) The following operations or uses of land are not to be deemed for the purposes of this Act to involve development of land:(a)the carrying out of works for the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of a building which do not materially affect the external appearance or the floor area of the building;(b)the carrying out of such minor or preliminary works and such temporary use of land as the competent authority may declare for the purpose of this subsection;(c)the carrying out by any statutory authority of any works on land within the boundaries of a street, being works which are necessary for the maintenance or improvement of the street;(d)the carrying out by any statutory authority of any works for the purpose of laying, inspecting, repairing or renewing any sewers, mains, pipes, cables or other apparatus, including the breaking open of any street or other land for that purpose;(e)the carrying out of any act authorised or required by the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act 1998;(f)the use of any existing building or land within the curtilage of a dwelling house for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house as such;(g)the use of any land for the purposes of forestry (including afforestation) and the use for any of those purposes of any building occupied together with land so used;(h)in the case of any building or land which is used for a purpose of any class specified in any rules made under section 61, the use of the building or land or any part thereof for any other purpose within the same class.(3) To avoid doubt, it is declared that for the purposes of this section —(a)the use as 2 or more separate houses of any building previously used as a single house involves a material change in the use of the building and of each part thereof which is so used;(b)the use as a dwelling house of any building not originally constructed for human habitation involves a material change in the use of the building;(c)the use for other purposes of a building or part of a building originally constructed as a dwelling house involves a material change in the use of the building;(d)the use for a purpose specified in the Fourth Schedule of a building or part of a building originally constructed as a dwelling house constitutes development, whether such use commenced before, on or after 15 May 2017;(e)the demolition or reconstruction of or addition to a building constitutes development;(f)the use for the display of advertisements of any external part of a building which is not normally used for that purpose involves a material change in the use of the building;(g)the deposit of refuse or waste materials on land involves a material change in the use of the land even though the land is comprised in a site already used for that purpose, if —(i)the superficial area of the deposit is extended; or(ii)the height of the deposit is extended and exceeds the level of the land adjoining the site;(h)subject to subsection (2)(h), the use of any building or part thereof for any purpose other than that for which the building was originally constructed involves a material change in the use of the building;(i)any decorative, painting, renovation or building works, whether external or internal, to or on a monument in respect of which there is in force a preservation order under the Preservation of Monuments Act 2009 constitutes building operations;(j)the use and operation as 2 or more separate entities of any building or buildings or part of a building which is or are approved or authorised to be used and operated as one single entity for any of the uses specified in the Second Schedule involves a material change in the use of the building or buildings or part of the building; and(k)where a planning permission or conservation permission is cancelled under section 15(4), a planning permission or conservation permission granted for a specified period has lapsed, or a condition of an authorisation under section 21(6) is breached, the continued use of any building or land for any purpose constitutes development from the date of the cancellation, lapsing or breach, as the case may be. Subject to subsections (2) and (3), in this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,
the Commissioner of Building Control grants a temporary occupation permit or a certificate of statutory completion under the Building Control Act 1989, whichever is earlier, for every building authorised in the relevant permission; or
where a temporary occupation permit or a certificate of statutory completion is not required under the Building Control Act 1989, the development or works is complete.