The Metropolitan Buildings Office was formed in 1845 to regulate the construction and use of buildings in the metropolitan area of London, England. Surveyors were empowered to enforce building regulations which sought to improve the standard of houses and business premises, and to regulate activities that might threaten public health. In 1855 the assets, powers and responsibilities of the office passed to the Metropolitan Board of Works.

Formation

The office was established by the Metropolitan Buildings Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict., c.84

with the following purposes: * Improvement of drainage * Securing sufficient width of streets to ensure adequate ventilation * Regulation of explosive works * Regulation of "deleterious" works * To appoint officers to superintend the Act

Places under the Act

The limits in which the Act were to operate were defined as: * On the north side of the River Thames the area within the external boundaries of the parishes of

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, Paddington,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, Hornsey, Tottenham, St Pancras,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, Hackney,

Stratford-le-Bow Bow () is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is east of Charing Cross. It was in the traditional county of Middlesex but became part of the County of ...

Bromley St Leonard Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. The area is distinct from Bow, which lies ...

, Poplar and Shadwell; and to the detached part of the parish of Chelsea north of Kensington. * On the south side of the River Thames the area within the external boundaries of the parishes of Woolwich,

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

, Deptford,

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, Lewisham, Camberwell,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, Tooting and Wandsworth. * And all places within of the external boundaries of these parishes, except on the eastern part where the boundary was to be the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

. The act recognised that London was expanding and provision was made to extend the Act by Order in Council to any place within of Charing Cross.

Administration of the Office

Authority to administer the Act was given to the Lord Mayor and aldermen of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

and the justices of the peace for the counties of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the City and Liberty of Westminster and the Liberty of Her Majesty's Tower of London. The city corporation and the justices in quarter sessions were to divide their areas into districts, and to appoint district surveyors to superintend the Act. The office's headquarters were established at 6

Adelphi Terrace Adelphi (; from the Greek ἀδελφοί ''adelphoi'', meaning "brothers") is a district of the City of Westminster in London.Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) The small district includes the streets of ''Adelphi T ...

. The power of the district surveyors did not extend to certain buildings already under separate legislation. These were under "special supervision", being under the jurisdiction of specially appointed "official referees" who applied the provisions of the Act. Buildings in this category included royal palaces, bridges, embankments, wharves, gaols and prisons, the Mansion House, the Guildhall, the Royal Exchange, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

and Covent Garden Market. In addition the buildings of dock and railway companies were completely exempt from the Building Act.

Controls and regulation

The creation of the Office introduced a number of changes from 1 January 1845, including: * Builders were required to give the district surveyor two days' notice if they were to construct a new building or alter an existing one. * Regulations were to be enforced regarding the thickness of walls, height of rooms, the materials used in repairs, the dividing of existing buildings and the placing and design of chimneys, fireplaces and drains. * All newly constructed houses were to have back yards of a minimum size. * Streets were to be at least wide, or the width to be the same as the highest building in the street, whichever was the greatest. * Any alley or mews was to be at least wide, or the width to be the same as the highest building in the alley, whichever was the greatest. * Every alley was to have two entrances, one of which was to be open from the ground upwards.

Abolition

By the Metropolis Management Act 1855 the powers of the Metropolitan Buildings Office passed to the newly created Metropolitan Board of Works.

External links

Metropolitan Buildings Office
- AIM25 page {{Metropolitan Board of Works 1845 establishments in England 1855 disestablishments in the United Kingdom History of local government in London (pre-1855) Housing in London Organizations established in 1845