Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024: island communities impact assessment

Background

10. The building standards system in Scotland is established by the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 (the 2003 Act). The system regulates building work on new and existing buildings to provide buildings that meet reasonable standards which:

• secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of persons in or about buildings and of others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings;
• further the conservation of fuel and power; and
• further the achievement of sustainable development.

11. Requirements applicable to building work are set through Building Regulations as a set of mandatory functional standards. These are simple statements on the outcomes which must be achieved when undertaking building work. These standards are supported by a body of guidance set out in Domestic and Non-domestic Technical Handbooks. This published guidance assists by defining the scope of action expected under each standard, providing one or more examples of how compliance with the standard can be achieved. Noting that the standards can also be met through use of solutions not included in published guidance. Standards are defined and applied at a national level.

12. Whilst the building standards system does enable flexibility in how compliance with standards is demonstrated, the current published Technical Handbooks do not provide alternative approaches based specifically upon the geographical location of construction work.

13. Under the 2003 Act, the Scottish Government’s Building Standards Division, acting on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, prepares and updates building standards legislation and guidance documents, conducting any necessary research and consulting on changes.

14. Energy standards within section 6 of the Building Standards Technical Handbooks were reviewed and improved in 2007, 2010, 2015 and most recently in 2023. For new buildings, The Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2007 saw the introduction of a single means of demonstrating compliance for new buildings on the basis of calculated carbon dioxide emissions targets, using a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for dwellings and Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) (or equivalent) for non-domestic buildings. Each review introduced further staged improvement to standards with the most recent iteration of the building standards, introduced in February 2023, delivering further reductions in energy demand and emissions, a delivered energy target and recognised the proposed implementation of the ‘New Build Heat Standard' by introducing ‘zero direct emission’ heat systems into standards.

15. In response to Alex Rowley MSP’s Proposed Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill, in December 2022 the then Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights confirmed that the Scottish Government would make subordinate legislation by 14 December 2024 to give effect to Mr Rowley’s final proposal “to introduce new minimum environmental design standards for all new-build housing to meet a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard, in order to improve energy efficiency and thermal performance”.

16. This aligned with the Shared Policy Programme agreement on the “explicit support for Passivhaus and equivalent standards” and with the Climate Assembly recommendation “to ensure that, within the next 5 years, all new housing is built to Passivhaus standards (or an agreed Scottish equivalent)”.

17. The Passivhaus Equivalent Standards review commenced in early 2023. Initial activity focused on direct engagement with a wide range of stakeholders to gather initial views on the likely extent and practicality of delivery of an ‘equivalent standard’. Noting that new energy standards had just come into effect on 1 February 2023 and the New Build Heat Standard was in the final stages of development with a scheduled implementation date of April 2024 (now further amended from 1 January 2025).

18. Following Ministerial agreement, an industry Working Group was convened in June 2023 with a role to offer advice and expertise to the Scottish Government to help define how an equivalent to the Passivhaus standard will look in Scotland.