Building Standards: list of guidance

Conservatories Guide 2nd edition

Revised and updated in line with 2015 handbooks.

2015

Conversion of traditional buildings

Part 1

Part 2

These guides have been published by Historic Scotland.

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. For more information, please visit the Historic Scotland bookshop.

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

New guidance in support of Section 3: Environment.

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

The ‘Example Constructions and Generic Internal Constructions’ has been updated.

Updated: October 2011.

2011

Housing and sound insulation: A Guide to Improving existing attached dwellings and designing for conversions

The purpose of this guide is 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

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

Non-domestic Building Services Compliance Guide for Scotland

Guidance in support of compliance with Standards 6.3 to 6.6 & 6.10 for non-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 Non-domestic Technical Handbook

Updated 6 April 2018 to v1.1– one further system described in Table 35.

2018

2015 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 October 2015.

Updated 6 April 2018 to v1.2 to cover use of both v5.3a and v5.4b of SBEM.

2015

2010 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 between 1 October 2010 30 September 2015.

2010

Accredited Construction Details (Scotland) 2015

Part 1 - Introduction and principles

Part 2 - Partial Fill Masonry Construction Details

Part 3 - Timber Frame Construction Details

Part 4 - Metal Frame Construction Details

Part 5 - Additional Common Junction Details

This document provides a revised and updated version of the Accredited Construction Details (Scotland) to take account of the increased number of thermal junctions identified within Appendix K of SAP 2012 and support the changes to the 2015 Energy standards.

The updated detail sets do not supersede previous versions, but reflect the likely changes to Scottish construction practices which meet or improve upon the design U-value for walls, floors and ceilings cited in the fuel package table of Section 6.1 of the Technical Handbooks.

For each designated construction type, a range of example junction locations are provided which illustrate good construction practice, to the most common building situations. The guidance is not prescriptive and other methods of meeting the functional standards exist.

2015

Accredited Construction Details (Scotland) 2010

This document provides guidance and one method to meet some of the requirements of the functional standards set out in Regulation 9 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations.  The guidance is not prescriptive and other methods of meeting the functional standards will exist.

2010

Accredited Construction Details (Scotland) (2007)

This document provides guidance and one method to meet some of the requirements of the functional standards set out in Regulation 9 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations.  The guidance is not prescriptive and other methods of meeting the functional standards will exist.

2007

Airtightness and Sound Testing

Methodology for testing in support of Section 5 - Noise and Section 6 - Energy.

2011

Condensing Boiler Assessment Procedure

Procedure for demonstrating criteria for use of non-condensing boilers when undertaking replacement work in existing buildings.

2010

NCM Modelling Guide for Non-domestic Buildings in Scotland

New guidance in support of Section 6 and energy performance certificates.

2010

U-Values

6.A - Tables of U-values and thermal conductivity

6.B - Worked examples of U-value calculations using the combined method

6.C - U-values of ground floors and basements

These guides are updated version of Annexes A, B ,and C of the 2006 Technical handbooks. It is intended as a reference document for use with the 2007 Technical handbooks. The guides relate to both domestic and non-domestic buildings.

These guides are designed to give examples of some common construction methods but there are likely to be other solutions which will be more suited to a particular project. It should also be noted that there is commercially available software for undertaking U-value calculations, which is now the most usual method of calculation. Also, manufacturers of building products are usually able to assist with calculations for particular cases.

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)

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.

See date(s) to the right of Guidance title

Sustainability label generator

Web tool for generating Statements of Sustainability under Section 7.

2011