High risk buildings - verification during construction: compliance plan approach - background and implementation

Glossary

Work or building work Construction work which requires application for building warrant

Project The entity or entities which are delivering the construction activities which require building warrant approval

Design and delivery team Those tasked within a project to design and deliver a building compliant with building regulations

BSD Building Standards Division of Scottish Government

LABSS Local Authority Building Standards Scotland

SBSH Scottish Building Standards Hub

Verifiers Those appointed by Scottish Ministers to protect the public interest by providing an independent check of applications for building warrants to construct or demolish buildings, to provide services, fittings or equipment in buildings, or to convert buildings, and to carry out reasonable inquiry into completion certificates submitted to them.

Reasonable inquiry The term used in primary legislation to describe the required actions of verifiers when considering approval or rejection of a submitted completion certificate.

Building warrant The statutory approval required before any construction work to a building of a description to which building regulations apply can commence.

Completion certificate The statutory document which certifies that a building has been constructed, demolished or converted in accordance with the relevant building warrant and complies with the building regulations.

Legislative change The act of amending through the parliamentary process the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 and associated secondary legislation

High Risk Buildings (HRB) A definition of buildings which are to be subject of the full compliance plan approach, confirmed through public consultation

Compliance Plan (CP) The document which is intended to evidence compliance with building regulations and building warrant procedures through appropriately planned and undertaken actions and information provision

Compliance Plan Manager (CPM) A new role to develop, oversee and deliver the completed compliance plan on behalf of a Relevant Person, to be introduced through legislative change.

Construction Compliance Notification Plan (CCNP) When the verifier grants the warrant, they will include a CCNP. This will detail the particular stages of the work they wish to inspect, acceptable alternative methods to check compliance and evidence which should be provided to them.

Prewarrant stage A period before the first building warrant application is submitted for a project.

Relevant Person (RP) As defined by the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, but can be summarised as:

• the owner, tenant or developer doing the building work or conversion themselves; or
• the owner, tenant or developer who has employed a builder to do work for them; or
• the owner, where the tenant, developer or builder has not submitted the certificate when they should have done so

Contractor Design Portions (CPD) A portion of the construction project design that is the responsibility of the contractor, rather than the client’s design team.

Agent An individual or party acting on behalf of the Relevant Person for the purposes of complying with the building regulations

Compliant building A Building which is constructed in compliance with the building regulations in force at the time of its construction and performs as intended by the building standards.

Stages or staging and staged warrants An optional process where a building standards verifier may accept a building warrant as an initial building warrant application followed by agreed amendments to warrant covering all portions of work

Building standards register The statutory register of building warrant applications, completion certificate submissions and other relevant documents and information. There are 32 building standards registers, held by each Scottish local authority. Registers are publicly accessible.

Procedural compliance Compliance with the procedures and process set out in the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 and subordinate legislation and guidance, supporting the legal requirements including that building warrant approval is required before work can physically commence on site.

Public interest 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, and furthering the conservation of fuel and power, and furthering the achievement of sustainable development,

Completion certificate A statutory submission by the Relevant Person needed to confirm that a building has been constructed, demolished or converted in accordance with the relevant building warrant and complies with the building regulations.