South Ayrshire Council was re-appointed by the Scottish Government on 1st May 2011 for a further six-year period as the building standards verifier (assessment of Building Warrant applications and construction) for the South Ayrshire area on the condition that a new performance framework is put in place to improve the quality, compliance, consistency and predictability of verification activities.
A requirement of the new performance framework is that all Building Warrant applications submitted on or after 1st October 2012 will be subject to new guidelines in respect of how the Building Standards Service as verifiers carry out site inspections and demonstrate ‘reasonable inquiry’. This is set out in the new guidance document ‘Verification During Construction’ produced by Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) and the Building Standards Division of the Scottish Government.
In light of the new requirements Building Standards staff will carry out a risk assessment of the proposed works taking into account the size and complexity which allows a CCNP to be created and issued with every Building Warrant approval. It sets out the construction stages that South Ayrshire Council has identified for site visits or other alternative methods to check compliance. They are categorised as Mandatory (M) or as Notification (N).
The CCNP clarifies the Key Construction Stages when the applicant or developer should notify the Council and the purpose of those notifications. This notification should allow sufficient time for the Council to respond as appropriate. When the applicant uses an agent, the CCNP should be sent by the agent to the applicant or developer for passing to the builder. This is important to make sure the CCNP notifications are made to the Council and the potential for disruptive inspections is minimised. You will have to notify Building Standards of commencement of works 7 days prior to works starting. The plan will also detail any alternative to site visits deemed appropriate by the Council depending on the size and complexity of the project.
It is important that you read and understand the content of the CCNP.
Please Note: Building Standards surveyors cannot and are not required to supervise or monitor every activity on a building project nor can they be present at all times. The supervision of building work is the responsibility of the building owner or developer who should appoint a building professional to supervise the work to ensure the standard of workmanship is satisfactory and meets the building regulations.
Responsibility for compliance with the building regulations lies with the relevant person (usually the owner or developer). Therefore any checks made by the Council do not remove any responsibility from the relevant person who is required to certify all the completed work as being in accordance with the approved plans, details and building regulations by the submission of a Completion Certificate to the Council, as Verifier. Failure to meet the criteria set out in the CCNP may delay or result in the rejection of the Completion Certificate.