Outbuildings and conservatories
A polycarbonate lean-to has no building-control paper in the pack. Has permitted development been decided?
No. Permitted development has not been decided. A polycarbonate lean-to has no building-control paper in the pack, and the survey did not apply planning rules, did not measure the addition against any allowance, and did not issue a building-regulations certificate. Permitted development is a planning question. Building-control paper is a regulations question. They are not the same decision. The inspection recorded a lean-to and the absence of papers. It has not decided the structure was permitted, exempt, or built to the standard for the work.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A light roof on a simple frame can still be building work. Polycarbonate tells you the sheet material, not whether the posts, the fixing to the house or the roof drainage were properly formed. Missing papers mean the pack does not show a completion route. They do not, by themselves, prove the work was unlawful, and they do not prove it was fine. The survey looked at what was there. It did not become the council, and it did not grant or refuse anything.
Ask your solicitor to check the planning history and any building-control record, and to keep that result separate from this inspection. If you need the frame looked at as structure, that is a further instruction. Do not tell a lender the lean-to is permitted because it is small or because it has been standing. The survey has not decided permitted development, and it has not certified the work.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Has permitted development for the lean-to been decided on this visit?
- Was any building-control certificate found in the pack?
- Is the sheet material being treated as proof the frame is adequate?
What are the typical next steps?
- Leave permitted development and building control both undecided.
- Ask your solicitor to check the planning and building-control records.
- Do not describe the lean-to as permitted because it looks modest.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a polycarbonate roof count as a tested structure?
No. The survey saw polycarbonate and a lean-to without papers. It did not test the sheets, the bars or the connection to the house, and it did not decide permitted development. Plastic sheet can hide a light frame. Condition of what was visible is not a regulations certificate and not a planning decision. Both of those stay outside this report.
Can the seller's memory of a council visit replace the paper?
Only as their account, and only if they can produce the record. The survey did not see building-control paper and did not decide permitted development. A remembered visit is not a certificate. Ask the solicitor to check the council record. Until that exists, do not write the lean-to up as signed off.