Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2004
What this means for your business
- Enforced by
- Mining Remediation Authority, National Highways, Natural England
- Applies to
- United Kingdom
- On this page
- 11 compliance obligations, 1 practical guide
What you must do
11 compliance obligations under this legislation.
Risk assessment 1
Apply current building regulations when issuing a design certificate
If your business acts as the certifier of design for a building project in Scotland, you must check the design against the building regulations that were in force on the date the building warrant is applied for. This ensures the certificate you issue is based on the correct rules at that point in time.
Notifications 4
Notify local authority of variation or discharge within 14 days
If you, as a verifier, cancel or change a building warrant's continuing requirement, you must inform the local authority within 14 days so that the building standards register reflects the change. This keeps the register current and prevents future enforcement issues.
Notify parties if your completion certificate is rejected
If a verifier rejects the completion certificate for your building, the verifier must tell you and the building owner why it was rejected. You’ll need to act on the notice, for example by fixing the issue and resubmitting a certificate.
Notify the verifier of key dates and milestones for building work
When you carry out building work under a warrant in Scotland, you must tell the verifier when you start, when drainage works are ready for inspection, when the whole job is finished and any other stages the verifier asks for. The start‑and‑completion notices must be in writing and the start notice must be sent within 7 days of beginning the work.
Provide plan‑viewing details with owner notification
If you act as the verifier and have to send a notice to a building owner (because the owner didn’t apply for the warrant), you must also tell the owner where they can look at the plans that were submitted with the application. This information must be included with the notice you send.
Record keeping 2
Issue certificates in the prescribed form, scope and with signature/date
If your business is an approved certifier of building design or construction in Scotland, any certificate you issue must only cover the matters you are authorised to certify, must follow the template set by the Scottish Ministers, and must be signed and dated by you. In practice this means you need to check your authorisation, use the correct form and ensure the certificate is properly signed and dated before it is handed over.
Maintain certification records and submit regular reports to Scottish Ministers
If your business acts as an approved building certifier, a scheme provider, or an approved scheme certifier in Scotland, you must keep detailed records of how building‑regulation compliance was shown, any complaints, applications and certificates, and then send those records to the Scottish Ministers on the timetable set out in the regulations.
Reporting and filing 4
Provide information to Scottish Ministers when requested for performance evaluation
If your business acts as a building verifier or certifier (or is part of an approved verification scheme) you must give the Scottish Ministers any information they ask for so they can assess how well you are carrying out your duties. The request may come at any time and you need to respond promptly.
Send acceptance copy to fire authority
If you act as the verifier who accepts a building completion certificate and the fire authority was consulted during the warrant application or the completion certificate process, you must forward a copy of that acceptance to the fire authority. This keeps the fire service informed and ensures the building complies with fire safety requirements.
Send fire‑safety continuing requirements to the fire authority
If your business acts as a verifier and you impose ongoing fire‑safety conditions on a building, you must forward a copy of those conditions to the fire authority that oversees the building. This keeps the authority informed of any long‑term fire‑safety measures you have mandated.
Submit further certificate when amending a building warrant
If you have already applied for a building warrant and provided a certificate, you must also provide a new certificate when you later apply to change that warrant, but only if the proposed changes affect the issues covered by the original certificate.
Practical guidance
Our guides explain how to comply with the requirements above.
Sections and provisions
63 classified provisions from this legislation.
Duties 17
- s.14 Discharge and variation of continuing requirements imposed by verifiers
- s.18 Documents to be sent with notification to owner
- s.24 Intimation
- s.28 Determination
- s.29 Registration in Building Standards Register direction
- s.32 Issue by certifiers of certificates of design and construction
- s.33 Issue of certificate by certifier of design
- s.34 Further certificates
- s.37 Maintenance of records by certifiers
- s.40 Evaluation of performance of verifiers and certifiers
- s.44 Consideration of completion certificate
- s.47 Rejection of completion certificate
- s.48 Information to fire authority
- s.49 Occupation or use without completion certificate
- s.50 Imposition of continuing requirements by verifiers
- s.52 Evacuation of Buildings
- s.59 Notices regarding work