Building control

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information.

This privacy notice is issued in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and describes how we collect and use personal information about you in the consideration, administration and enforcement of building control relating issues.

The information is used so that the Council can ensure building control legislation is followed.

This notice applies to information we hold about you.

We may update this notice at any time.

It is important that you read this notice, together with any other privacy notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information.

Further information
If you would like to know more about how we use your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this leaflet, please tell us.
Contact the Data Protection Officer:
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council,
01642 774 774
DataProtection@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner

What kind of information we hold about you?

We use information about building control applications, applicants, agents and other interested parties to enable us to carry out specific functions for which we are responsible and to provide you with a service.
These records may include:

  • Basis details about you for example; name, postal address, telephone numbers, email address
  • Payment details (we do not store this information)
  • Personal and professional opinions
  • Details of agents where applicable
  • Contact we have had with you, for example, appointments and letters of correspondence
  • Notes and reports about your relevant circumstances
  • Details and records about the service you have received

We do not routinely collect information categorised as sensitive, however we may be supplied with information as part of an application or subsequent consultation.

Where we are supplied with this information it will be processed only to carry out our legal obligations and in line with data protection policies.

How is your personal information collected?

We collect personal information by letter, email, telephone, online and through face to face contact with yourself, or on occasion an agreed representative of you, appointed by yourself.

How we will use information about you?
We need all the categories of information in the list above primarily to allow us to assess, fulfil the consultation requirements, determination and enforcement of building control applications, building control enforcement and building control related matters. The situations in which we will process your personal information are listed below and are done so under the legal basis of The Building Act 1984 and The Building Regulations Act 2010 (as amended):

  • Determining a building control application
  • Considering your comments in relation to an application
  • Taking payment for the processing of an application
  • Enforce building control conditions and obligations and to take enforcement action

What if I don’t want to provide personal information?

If you fail to provide certain information when requested, we may be unable to process your building control application, or investigate any alleged breaches of building control.

Can I see my records?

The Data Protection Act 2018 allows you to find out what information is held about you, on paper and computer records. This is known as ‘Right of Subject Access’. If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Data Protection officer.

You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.

Do I have Other Rights?
The Data Protection Act 2018 allows you other rights; for example if there is an error in your records you have the right to make sure it is rectified or erased. In some circumstances you can restrict or object to processing, request data portability and request not to be the subject of solely automated decision making.

You have the right to withdraw your consent that you have provided, at any time and we must cease processing. This may restrict the service that we are able to provide.

You have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.

Data Sharing
We may have to share your data with third parties, including third-party service providers and other entities in the group.

We require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

Examples of the organisations we may need to share information with are:

  • Interested party (eg members of the public) via the Council’s building control register
  • Which will allow them to view details supplied (subject to redaction)
  • Other third party organisations (eg Utility companies) who may also be consulted where required 

Which third-parties process my personal information?
”Third parties” includes third-party service providers (including contractors and designated agents). The following third-parties process personal information about you for the following purposes:

  • Mastergov (DEF) – The Council’s IT provider may have to access the system on occasions where there is a fault
  • Other organisations – may be consulted on building control applications or enforcement matters
  • Restore records management – Storage company for historic paper records

How secure is my information with third-party service providers? 

All our third-party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes.

We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

How long for? 

Your details will be kept indefinitely on the building control record. Processing is kept to a minimum and will only be processed in accordance with the law.

Your duty to inform us of changes 

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current.

Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your working relationship with us.