Building standards - Early Adopters Scheme: compliance handbook

2. Building Standards System

2.1 Overview of the building standards system

The building standards system in Scotland is established by the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 (Act). The Act gives powers to Scottish Ministers to make building regulations, procedure regulations, fees regulations and other supporting legislation as necessary, to fulfil the purposes of the Act. The purposes include setting building standards for construction work and conversions and dealing with dangerous and defective buildings. The regulations are made by Scottish Ministers but must be approved by the Scottish Parliament before coming into force.

The purpose of the building standards system is to protect the public interest and it is intended to ensure that building work on both new and existing buildings results in buildings that meet minimum standards.

The building standards system sets out the standards to be met when building work or a conversion takes place, to the extent necessary to meet the building regulations. The Scottish Building Standards system is pre-emptive, which means that designs need to be checked and approved by local authority verifiers before work can commence; this is a recognised strength of the system. Building in advance of building warrant approval is an offence against the Act and increases the risk of non-compliance because the design has not been checked or approved by the verifier. Local authorities can presently suspend unauthorised works and report offences against the Act potentially resulting in fines and in the future imprisonment (planned to be included in future amendment to the Act).

Inspections undertaken during construction and on completion by verifiers are intended to protect the public interest to check compliance with the building regulations and to discourage avoidance of the legislation. The inspections do not provide a system to control work onsite. That is the responsibility of the building owner/developer and a matter for the contracts and arrangements put in place between the client and contractor.

The new CP approach seeks to support and strengthen compliance with the introduction of the CP and a Compliance Plan Manager (CPM), which will be discussed throughout this Handbook.

2.2 Roles Overview

Relevant Person - Building owner, tenant, or developer

The relevant person (RP) is usually the owner, tenant or a developer who is doing the work for themselves, or who may employ a contractor to do the work on their behalf.

When a building warrant is obtained, the RP is responsible for compliance with the building regulations. On completion of the work the RP or their duly authorised agent must sign and submit a completion certificate to the verifier. The completion certificate certifies that the work, or conversion, was carried out in accordance with the building warrant, and the building, as constructed or converted, complies with the building regulations. It is an offence if the RP or the CPM acting as their agent knowingly submits a completion certificate that contains a statement that is false or misleading, or recklessly submits a completion certificate containing a statement which is false or misleading.

Where the tenant or developer do not carry out their duties required by the Act, the owner is ultimately legally responsible for ensuring compliance with the building regulations.

Compliance Plan Manager

A Compliance Plan Manager (CPM) is a new role being introduced on all High Risk Building (HRB) building warrant projects, and is therefore required for EA Scheme projects. The CPM is appointed by the building owner (relevant person), not the builder or developer. The only time in terms of appointment where this cannot be the case is where the owner is the developer/builder.

The CPM should be a building professional with appropriate qualifications, expertise, and experience, relevant for the building type and scale of the project.

The role entails:

• Providing continuity of compliance oversight from design to completion on behalf of the RP.
• Being appointed at an early stage to prepare and submit the Application for the Pre-warrant Compliance and Procedural Assessment to the verifier prior to the building warrant application.
• Working in collaboration with the design team and contractor to identify the compliance risks, inspection needs and information/documents to be gathered and collated.
• Working with the design team and contractor to develop and agree the compliance evidence required by the RP to enable legal the submission of the completion certificate at the end of the project.
• Being responsible for overseeing that the CP is fully developed and subsequently discharged, from the building warrant pre-application discussion stage through to completion of the project, on behalf of the RP.
• Confirming readiness and then notifying the verifier when stages of construction identified in the CP are ready for inspection.
• Ensuring works don’t start without a warrant or progress beyond the approved stage, no occupation without completion.
• Co-ordinating inspections by others, including the designer, sub-contractors, and any other specialists, where work requires to be certified or commissioned.
• Acting as a point of contact for verifiers to arrange verification inspections or checks.
• Maintaining and compiling the agreed record of compliance evidence to support the submission of the completed CP and the CC, on completion of the project.
• Taking reasonable steps to check that buildings are built in accordance with the approved building warrant plans, including on completion of each building warrant stage. Any differences to be immediately reported to the verifier through the CP.

The level of inspection to be undertaken by the CPM will be based on a risk assessment. The number of inspections will vary depending on the building types and the nature of the work being undertaken. As a minimum CPM inspections should focus on confirming and authorising the notifiable verification stages and that warrant stages are completed in accordance with the approved stage plans.

The CPM duties will be discharged when the approved CP is completed and delivered, the completion certificate accepted by the verifier and the owner is provided with the building warrant compliance information.

Verifier

The 32 Local Authorities are appointed as verifiers by Scottish Ministers to administer the building standards system for their own geographic area. Their primary function is to protect the public interest by providing an independent check of applications for building warrants to construct or demolish buildings or convert buildings. This includes checking during the design phase before granting a building warrant and checking during the construction phase before accepting a completion certificate.

Building Standards Division

Building Standards Division is part of the Scottish Government. The Division prepares and updates building standards legislation and guidance documents, conducting any necessary research and consulting on changes as necessary. Updating of the legislation and supporting guidance is informed by collaboration with working groups comprising of experts from industry, academia, and stakeholders.

Approved Certifiers

Scottish Ministers may appoint individuals or bodies, either public or private, as approved certifiers of design or construction.

There are a number of works covered by certification, which are listed on the Scottish Government Certification Register. The benefit of using an approved certifier of design and/or construction is that the building work will be certified by qualified building professionals as complying with regulations. Therefore, certification is seen as a strong compliance route and is encouraged within the CP approach.