The Planning Process - Building Control Plans
Industrialisation and urbanisation lead to the need for building control legislation. Local Improvement Acts saw controls over dangerous structures but there was no standardisation and there was also increasing concerns over sanitation and the spread of disease such as cholera.
The Public Health Act, 1848 enabled local authorities to make bye-laws relating to public health and the Local Government Act, 1858 extended regulation to the structure and stability of buildings, the space around them and the control of fire. A form of bye-laws 
provided a model for towns to follow in applying the Act and this was extended to rural areas by the Public Health Act, 1875. The bye-laws required the deposit of plans of all intended new buildings or alterations to existing buildings with local councils for their approval.
Plans for most local authorities in the county are now held by Nottinghamshire Archives. They are usually detailed scale plans with elevations and sections and in the case of alterations sometimes show before and after views.
Most councils also kept building plan registers recording the date of submission, the name of the applicant, a brief description of the premises and whether or not the plan was approved. These are arranged chronologically but many have been indexed by applicant’s name or street. Not all plans will survive and in particular plans of minor works have not been retained, although they will still be recorded in the registers. The surviving plans therefore provide an invaluable source of architectural drawings. Find out more about the city of Nottingham's records and district council records.
Anglican churches were subject to a separate faculty process.
