Hereford City Building Control Plans

Hereford City Building Control Plans

Under the Public Health Act 1848, it was mandatory for a Borough Council to appoint a surveyor. Under the Act, local authorities were also obliged to approve plans for new streets and buildings to ensure that they met minimum requirements.

The first mention of the Hereford City Surveyor's position appears to be in the Hereford Town Council minutes for 1853 (HLM/A/12). The department was largely consolidated as a result of the Hereford Improvements Act 1854.  The department was responsible for town planning, building control, architectural engineering among other more diverse functions.

The Public Health Act 1875 empowered local authorities to make by-laws governing the building of new houses and streets and to prohibit the construction of shoddy housing; applications for new buildings had to be submitted with a plan (as they had previously under the Public Health Act 1848).  Later, similar plans could be required under planning legislation also.

Two other statutes of 1868 and 1875 gave local authorities more extensive powers over existing property. Under the Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Act 1868 they could require owners to make necessary repairs; if they refused, the authority might close or demolish the premises or do the repairs themselves and recover the cost from the owner. The 1875 Act extended these powers to whole areas, not merely individual properties, and the first recognition of the need to plan redevelopment, rather than demolish unsanitary houses.

Planning permission is often confused with building byelaw approval, which also involve the submission of plans to local councils. Byelaw applications began in 1936 and are concerned with practical construction issues. In 1936 byelaw applications in this area were the responsibility of local Urban District Councils and Rural District Councils. Planning permission began only in 1947, when the Town and Country Planning Act introduced a comprehensive system for the control of development; since then (with some specific exceptions) no land owner has been entitled to carry out any development without first obtaining the necessary planning permission. 

These plans are linked to the New Building Inspection Books, reference CN57, and those volumes can act as an index to these plans.