Making a quality building warrant application: what you need to know

Annex C - Technical Checklist

The following technical items should be considered when making a building warrant application.

The Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2004, schedule 2, sets out the which information should accompany an application. The Procedural Handbook provides further information.

Drawings

• Location/Block plan
  It is essential that a plan identifying the location of the site/building is submitted.
• Site Plan
  Include site levels, pathway gradients and identify the site boundary.
• Foundation plan
• Floor plans
• Roof plan
• Elevations
• Building sections
• Detail sections and plans
  Provide details to illustrate the proposed construction of each element of the building.
• Services layout
  For example, electrical layouts.
• Drainage design and layout
  For example, surface water and foul drainage. Include, where relevant, design calculations and system details.
• Existing and proposed (if relevant)
  If work relates to an existing building include drawings of both the existing building and proposed.

Drawing convention and annotation

• Each drawing should have a unique reference number
• Title each drawing Drawn to a suitable scale Consider including a scale bar on drawings and refer to the Procedural Handbook for the suggested scale of different drawing types
• North point on plans
• Clearly identify new work Label/stamp drawing as ‘Building Warrant’
• Clear, concise and relevant notes on drawings
• Refer to relevant specification references or documents Indicate spaces/dimensions related to compliance with building regulations For example, activity spaces, travel distances, clear opening dimensions etc.
• Provide key/legend

Note: Avoid repetition on drawings and specifications. Repeating the same notes or details across numerous drawings/documents can lead to issues with consistency, especially when revising information for resubmission.

Specification

• Project specific
  Avoid a generic specification, ensure it is specific to the project.

  If submitting National Building Specification (NBS) – avoid submitting the full document, only include/reference the NBS section/clause that is relevant to demonstrating compliance.

• Focused specification
  The specification should be relevant to building warrant with a focus on demonstrating compliance.
• Supporting certification/documents
  For example, BBA certificates or similar.
• Product/system technical approval and/or test data information
  Provide product technical information if relevant to demonstrating compliance with the building regulations.

Site

• Site investigation report
• Ground conditions
• Existing drainage layout / Scottish Water consent

Structural

Technical Handbooks – Section 1

Note: The structural design should be clearly illustrated. Avoid over marked drawings to show this.

Fire

Technical Handbooks – Section 2

• Fire engineered solution
• Fire strategy
  Demonstrate how the proposed fire strategy for the proposed building will demonstrate compliance with the building regulations.
• Fire related performance information

Energy

Technical Handbooks – Section 6

• Certificate of Design
  If a certifier of design has been used
• Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP)
  Required for new dwellings and some other defined construction work.
• Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM)
  Required for new non-domestic buildings and some other defined construction work.
• Supporting calculations/evidence
  Include calculations, or other documentation, that demonstrates the thermal performance being achieved by the various aspects of the fabric of the building, for example, wall U-value calculations.

Note: This list is not exhaustive. An example of technical handbook sections are given in the checklist, as these highlight the most common areas where information is often missing from a submission. The information submitted with a building warrant application must demonstrate compliance with all sections of the technical handbooks.