Building Standards verification performance framework - national customer satisfaction survey: survey findings 2021

3. Achieved sample and respondent profile

3.1. Total Survey Responses

1. Total survey responses for Scotland (including the national survey response rate) are shown in Table 3.1.a

Table 3.1.a Achieved sample and response rate

A	Number of customer email addresses supplied by local authorities to Pye Tait Consulting	27,519*
B	Of these – number of unique customers invited to participate in the survey:	22,493†
C	Total survey responses for Scotland:	3,259‡
	Response rate for Scotland (C as a percentage of B):	14.5%

Notes:

For comparison purposes, the national response rate in 2020 was 14.5%. However, higher volumes of customer email addresses were supplied by local authorities this year than in 2020, resulting in the highest number of responses to date since the survey was first run.

* This number includes repeat email addresses, i.e. where the same customer's details were supplied by more than one local authority verifier.

† This number follows a de-duplication of repeat email addresses supplied by more than one local authority verifier.

‡ Customers attributed their survey responses to a particular local authority verifier. Respondents could complete the survey more than once to provide feedback about more than one local authority verifier if they had been a customer of multiple local authorities.

Source: Pye Tait Consulting, 2021

2. A breakdown of the achieved sample and response rates by local authority verifier is provided in Table 3.1.b.

3. The response rate for Scotland is not directly comparable with individual local authority verifier response rates. This is because the response rate for Scotland is based on total unique customers on a national level (i.e. following a de-duplication exercise) whereas the response rate for each local authority verifier is based on total email addresses supplied by that local authority verifier.

Table 3.1.b Achieved sample and response rate by local authority verifier

Local authority verifier	A – Total email addresses* (number)	B – Total unique email addresses† (number)	C – Survey responses attributed to local authority verifier‡ (number)	Response rate§ (percentage)
Aberdeen City	777	541	84	10.8%
Aberdeenshire	1,766	1,508	223	12.6%
Angus	326	295	49	15.0%
Argyll and Bute	702	515	97	13.8%
City of Edinburgh	3,212	2,525	389	12.1%
Clackmannanshire	281	176	41	14.6%
Dumfries and Galloway	216	187	26	12.0%
Dundee City	353	260	62	17.6%
East Ayrshire	547	413	60	11.0%
East Dunbartonshire	534	431	62	11.6%
East Lothian	1,061	744	124	11.7%
East Renfrewshire	213	59	20	9.4%
Eilean Siar	802	511	76	9.5%
Falkirk	620	423	81	13.1%
Fife	1,748	1,372	207	11.8%
Glasgow City	1,104	470	77	7.0%
Highland	1,599	1,363	213	13.3%
Inverclyde	213	142	26	12.2%
Midlothian	768	532	83	10.8%
Moray	707	577	100	14.1%
North Ayrshire	671	485	80	11.9%
North Lanarkshire	1,925	1,429	182	9.5%
Orkney	325	311	46	14.2%
Perth and Kinross	226	209	32	14.2%
Renfrewshire	1,172	823	119	10.2%
Scottish Borders	480	304	63	13.1%
Shetland	174	163	33	19.0%
South Ayrshire	683	502	65	9.5%
South Lanarkshire	1,967	1,445	218	11.1%
Stirling	708	486	118	16.7%
West Dunbartonshire	500	329	59	11.8%
West Lothian	1,139	829	144	12.6%
Customers of multiple local authorities	Included in above totals	+2,134	N/A	N/A
Total	27,519	22,493	3,259	14.5%**

Notes:

* Supplied by local authorities to Pye Tait Consulting

** The total Scotland response rate is determined by calculating column C as a percentage of B.

† Unique to this local authority verifier (i.e. not supplied by any other)

‡ Self-selected by the customer

§ Actual responses attributed to each local authority verifier (C) as a % of total email addresses supplied by that local authority verifier (A)

Source: Pye Tait Consulting, 2021

3.2. Respondent Profile

1. The majority of customers responding to the survey (72%) were Direct applicants for building warrants and/or submitters of completion certificates^[11] in the 2020/21 financial year (the period in scope of the survey). A fifth (19%) were agents acting on behalf of applicants, 7% were both of the above, and the remaining 2% fell outside of these categories (Figure 3.2.a).

Note Proportions in some tables and figures may not equal 100% due to rounding.

Source Pye Tait Consulting, 2021

2. Among Direct applicants, over two thirds (70%) confirmed that they used an agent to act on their behalf as part of the application process (Figure 3.2.b).

Source Pye Tait Consulting, 2021

3. All customers were asked to state the category (or categories) of work for which they had submitted an application. The majority of customers (80%) had submitted applications for domestic work only, 10% submitted applications for non-domestic work only, and 11% submitted applications for both domestic and non-domestic work.

4. Direct applicants responding to the survey were primarily domestic customers of the building standards system, whereas agents spanned a mix of domestic only, commercial only, and combined (domestic and commercial) customers (Figure 3.2.c).

Source Pye Tait Consulting, 2021

5. A more detailed breakdown of the categories of building work for which surveyed customers had applied, is shown in Figure 3.2.d.

6. Applications relating to 'Domestic existing build' (either alterations or extensions) account for the majority (66%) of responses.

Source Pye Tait Consulting, 2021