Dangerous Structures

It is important to ensure that any dangerous structures within North West Leicestershire is `made safe`. Here at Building Control our experienced officers deal with a number of request from the public to inspect possible dangerous structures. In the past these have included dangerous chimneys, walls, buildings and fire damaged buildings.

The Procedure

The basic procedure for any report of a dangerous structure is to visit the structure within 24hrs from when the report was made. The Building Control Officer will then classify the the structure either `immediately dangerous`, `dangerous` or `not dangerous`.

Any report of a dangerous structure will be treated as confidential for the purposes of the investigation and any Freedom of Informarion enquiries.

If the structure is immediately dangerous we can use our powers to ask the owner to remove the danger. If they fail to do so or are unable to carry out the work, the councils own contractors will be called. The cost of any work would be recovered by the owner, not the tax payer.

If the structure is not immediately dangerous, then the process is more complicated. The law says the Magistrates Court must instruct the owner to remove the danger, however, in practice we will always give the owner an opportunity to remove the danger before commencing formal enforcement through the Magistrates Court.

Reporting a Dangerous Structure

If you think a structure is dangerous please do not hesitate to contact the Building Control immediately.

If your own building or structure is dangerous then please ensure that you take the appropriate action to remove the danger. We cannot act as private surveyors or demolition contractors, therefore if we attend site we can only apply the law.