A building control body is an organisation authorised by the Building Act 1984 (as amended 1 October 2023 by the Building Safety Act 2022) to control building work that is subject to the Building Regulations in England and Wales (similar systems are provided in Northern Ireland, and in Scotland where the term 'building standards' is used. Such regulations or standards are also known as the building codes in other parts of the world.

Building control roles are exercised by public officers within local authorities and by private sector employees of Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs) which replaced the former "Approved Inspectors", once licensed by CICAIR Ltd, a body authorised by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government under the Building Act 1984 (as amended).

In England and Wales, each local authority is the "Local Building Control Authority" (LBCA). The collective term "Local Authority Building Control" (LABC) refers to the non-statutory organisation (a 'trade body') of that name representing all local authority building control services in England and Wales. LABC is controlled by its members - the local authorities. The LABC operates a range of generic websites offering "advice" and "information" of the Building Regulations, to both building industry professionals and the general public.

The title "building control officer" (BCO) (also known as a "building inspector" or a "building control surveyor") is used predominantly by local authorities, which confer the title of "officer" to many staff who have regulatory, supervision or enforcement roles.

In 2021, the House of Commons considered a draft Building Safety Bill to implement post Grenfell Tower fire inquiry recommendations for better safety in the erection of future higher-risk buildings, and better management of all existing (and all still under construction) higher-risk block of flats and student accommodation (over six floors or 18m above ground level). The Building Safety Act 2022 is now statute law in England.

Building Regulations are a devolved area of law and different administrative regime existing between the four nations that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain (UK). Scotland has always had very different "building safety standards" under its separate Scottish legal system.

The Building Safety Act 2022 created a regulated and legally protected profession for all building control professionals. To practice in the public sector with local authorities and/or in the private sector as employees of (RBCAs) companies or as self-employed individuals, all individual building control professionals must register with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) a statutory body created by the Building Safety Act 2022. Thus, since 1 October 2023, it is a criminal offence to claim to be a RBI (Registered Building Inspector) unless registered with the BSR.

There are now three main non-statutory professional bodies - the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) - with members in the construction industry and local authority or private sector "building control".