What are Building Standards?
Building Standards are primarily concerned with the safety of people and can be traced as far back as the 12th century when King David I founded the Royal Burgh of Berwick upon Tweed. The Burgh led to people living closer together and the need for standards to deal with safety issues such as sanitation and fire.
Building Standards are legal requirements laid down by the Scottish Parliament.
If you want to build, alter, extend, convert or demolish a building, it is likely that you will first have to obtain a building warrant.
In some cases a building warrant is not needed but the work may still need to meet the requirements of the Building Standards. Handbooks that provide more information as well as the full Building Standards can be found on the Scottish Building Standards website www.sbsa.gov.uk
This article deals only with the building standards system; other statutory requirements may also apply, such as planning permission, fire certificates and licensing.
Key facts
-Last year the service processed 1,377 applications for building warrants.
-The value of the applications received was £171.6 million
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