Dangerous structures and public safety
The council has statutory duties to ensure that:
- all structures within the borough that are considered dangerous are made safe within the shortest period of time possible
- any demolition work undertaken within the borough is carried out with necessary safety precautions, and in such a way that adjacent properties where appropriate are made safe
Building owners must maintain their property and the walls around it to ensure that they don’t endanger the public. This includes preventing incidents like falling masonry, roof tiles, and leaning walls. If someone reports a building as immediately dangerous, Hackney Building Control will investigate and inform the owner to fix the issues. Hackney Building Control will only step in if the owner is unable or unavailable to make the building safe. They may issue a dangerous structure notice as well. If the structure has the potential to be dangerous, Hackney Building Control will give the owner a chance to carry out the necessary repairs. They will issue a letter or a dangerous structure notice based on the condition of the building.
What is a dangerous structure?
The term ‘dangerous structure’ covers not only buildings or parts of buildings (such as loose slates or tiles), but also garden walls, fences or hoardings.
In fact, any structure which could endanger persons.
Dangerous structures fall mainly into 2 categories:
- immediately dangerous: structures that are at risk of collapse and must be secured for public safety. The owner will normally be recharged for emergency works carried out in these cases
- dangerous but not imminently so: structures, which further to a survey are unstable but not immediately dangerous. In these cases the owner is given a reasonable time to rectify and potential danger. Failure to respond may result in a magistrates court order being obtained
Report a dangerous structure
Send an email to buildingcontrol@hackney.
What will we do?
We may be notified of a potential dangerous structure by residents, the police, fire or other emergency services among other agencies.
We have a duty rota of surveyors who are on call day and night to deal with these situations.
On being advised of a potential dangerous structure, our surveyor will visit the site to inspect the structure and to arrange for appropriate action to be taken to remove any danger.
If the structure is considered potentially dangerous, we have legal powers to require the owners of the building or structure to remedy the defects. The area surrounding the structure is blocked to ensure safety is maintained until the structure is fixed.
If the structure is considered immediately dangerous and likely to collapse, the Surveyor will arrange for a contractor to remove or repair the structure as soon as possible, normally on the same day. All costs incurred in undertaking the work are recovered from the owner of the property.
Fees and costs
- administration charge – £223
- Survey and Report – £169.50. The fee is based on a maximum of 3 hours on site producing a survey report including the Dangerous Structure notice. If the surveyor spends more than 3 hours on site there will be an additional hourly charge.
- remedial works – costs will be dependent on the nature of the dangerous structure and works required. Where we are required to undertake these works all contractor cost will incur a 5% handling fee
- all costs are invoiced and held as a local land charge against the property until paid
- unpaid dangerous structures charges will accrue a 2.5% per annum interest charge for the first 10 years of the charge
Get in touch
If you are unsure what application you need to apply for or would like to discuss our fees schedule, contact us on the details below.
Building Control Service
Address
Telephone
Opening times
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday – 9am to 5pm (telephone)
- Wednesday – 9am to 4pm (telephone)
Notes
To report unauthorised building works, email buildingcontrol@hackney.gov.uk