Building standards

Introduction

Building regulations set out technical requirements applicable to building work to protect the public interest.

We publish technical handbooks which explain the intent of each functional standard as well as how to achieve the requirements set out in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. The regulations, standards and supporting guidance in our technical handbooks apply based upon the date on which a building warrant application is submitted or when work not requiring a building warrant is commenced.

Also see the following collections:

New publication: technical handbooks for use from 6 April 2026

Building regulations are revised to amend Section 0 General, Section 2 Fire, Section 3 Environment and Section 4 Safety.

Section 0 General is updated to incorporate amendment to Regulation 8 and reflect changes to the definition of traditionally constructed buildings.

Updates to Section 2 Fire give effect to Simon and Richard’s Law providing extended guidance on conversions of traditionally constructed buildings, materials used to limit spread of fire, fire escape, and implements amendments to Standard 2.15 relating to automatic fire suppression systems.

Updated guidance on flooding and groundwater is introduced under Standard 3.3 and new advice on flooding is annexed to Section 3. Guidance to Standard 4.1, Clause 4.1.7 has been updated to provide advice on the positioning of letterplates in new dwellings.

Designers seeking to comply with the standards or to submit a building warrant application on or after 6 April 2026 should refer to:

Previous technical handbooks 2017 onwards

Links to previous editions of the technical handbooks (pdf version) are below:

Older technical handbooks 2005-2016

Links to previous editions of the technical handbooks are below. Under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, the technical handbooks issued in support of the building regulations were applied from the following dates.

2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 – 1 May in each year
2006 – 1 April 2016
2010, 2013, 2015 and 2019 – 1 October in each year
2016 and 2017 – 1 July in each year

Key documents (referred to within the technical handbooks) are listed below.

Domestic handbooks

Non-domestic handbooks

Key supporting technical guidance

Conservatories Guide 2nd edition, Revised and updated in line with 2015 handbooks, 2015

Conversion of traditional buildings: part one and two, published by Historic Scotland

Modern methods of construction: guidance for building standards verification, Provides guidance to Local Authority verifiers and Certifiers as defined under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 when assessing building warrant applications and certifying works which use Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), 2022

Procedural guidance for Crown buildings, Revised and updated including guidance on cells and reference to appropriate fire authorities, 2010

Procedural Handbook 3rd Edition, Inclusion of changes implemented by the Building (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 (new Type 23A to schedule 3, changes fees and discounts, timing of certificate of design for discount, recognise digital procedures and forms). Also other general updates (e.g. Section 6, Energy and SEPA), 2017

Small Buildings Structural Guidance, Removed from Technical Handbooks, available in our website archive, 2010

A Simplified Approach to Alternative Fire Safety Strategies, New guidance in support of Section 2: Fire, 2010

A Fire Safety Design Summary, new guidance and example forms, 2013

Fire Safety Management in Traditional Buildings, guide published by Historic Scotland.

Whisky Maturation Warehouses - Storage Buildings (Class 1) – Automatic Fire Suppression Systems, Provides supplementary information for the installation of automatic fire suppression systems in whisky maturation warehouses to that already provided in the Scottish Building Standards Technical Handbooks, 2015

Ventilation Domestic Guide, Guidance in support of standard 3.14 ventilation, 2017

Protective Barriers in Existing Non-Domestic Buildings, A building regulation guide to openings in protective barriers such as railings or balustrades, 2011

Airtightness and Sound Testing, Methodology for testing in support of Section 5 - Noise and Section 6 - Energy, 2011

Example Constructions and Generic Internal Constructions, updated 2011

Housing and sound insulation: guide to improving existing attached dwellings and designing for conversions, guide to provide methods and descriptions of how to improve sound insulation between attached dwellings, to assist in deciding on what levels of sound insulation may be required and to inform on key separating wall and floor types and influences of remedial treatments.

Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide for Scotland 2022, Guidance in support of compliance with Standards 6.3 to 6.7 for dwellings and other domestic buildings. Applicable from 1 December 2022, the Guide should be referred to in conjunction with the Domestic Technical Handbook, 2022.

Non-domestic Building Services Compliance Guide for Scotland 2022, Guidance in support of compliance with Standards 6.3 to 6.6 & 6.10 for non-domestic buildings. Applicable from 1 December 2022, this the Guide should be referred to in conjunction with the Non-domestic Technical Handbook, 2022.

2022 NCM Modelling Guide for Non-domestic Buildings in Scotland, Guidance on the application of the National Calculation Methodology used to demonstrate compliance on new non-domestic buildings with Standard 6.1. Applicable to building warrants submitted from 1 December 2022, 2022

Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide for Scotland 2015, Guidance in support of compliance with Standards 6.3 to 6.7 for dwellings and other domestic buildings. Applicable from 1 October 2015, this separate document contains guidance on building services previously published within the Technical Handbooks. The Guide should be referred to in conjunction with remaining guidance within the Domestic Technical Handbook, 2015.

These guides outline the main features of each technology and identify issues that need to be considered in the design and installation of low carbon equipment, for compliance with the building regulations, including good practice to optimise the energy efficiency of installations. More detailed guidance on the Scottish building regulations, including the functional standards, is given in the Technical Handbooks.

Safe and sustainable installation of low carbon equipment
Introduction to the guides (2010, Updated 2012)
Air source heat pumps (ASHP) (2010)
Ground source heat pumps and water source heat pumps (GSHP and WSHP) (2010)
Solar thermal systems or solar hot water (SHW) (2010)
Biomass Installations (2012)
Photovoltaics (2012)

Sustainability label generator, Web tool for generating Statements of Sustainability under Section 7.

Guide to Conversion of Traditional Buildings

National Calculation Methodology modelling guide

Guidance on compliance with building regulations, namely the application of the calculation methodology used for non-domestic buildings.

Non-domestic buildings: national calculation methodology modelling guide 2022

Procedural handbook

Provides clarification on the procedures underpinning the Scottish building standards system.

Building services compliance guides

Detailed guidance for the installation of fixed building services in new and existing domestic and non-domestic buildings in support of compliance with the energy efficiency requirements.

The non-domestic building services compliance guide for Scotland 2018 is in our website archive.

Older technical standards <2005

Archived building standards publications

Older and archived publications by the Building Standards Division can be accessed via our third-party document sharing platform Objective Connect. To access archived publication please contact buildingstandards@gov.scot.

General guidance

Procedures for building standards

The Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 set out the processes for submitting and dealing with building warrant applications. We also published a revised version of the building standards procedural handbook (March 2026), which explains how the processes work and apply.

Our Customer Journey explains the building standards system to anyone making home improvements or starting building work.

When submitting a building warrant application there is helpful guidance on what you need to know to make a good quality application.

Enforcement

Provides clarification on the enforcement powers for local authorities as set out in the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.

Research

We have a separate collection for building standards research undertaken to support building regulations and guidance.

You can find previous research reports in our website archive.

Consultations and consultation analysis

Advice notes: external wall systems

Verification and certification

We have a separate collection of guidance on verification and certification for local authorities.

Energy assessment software guidance

Building standards approved energy assessment software: guidance