Michelle Williamson
Written 21 posts
The Role of LABSS within the Building Standards System – Customer Survey
25th May 2021
Optimal Economics is undertaking a research project for the Building Standards Division (BSD) of the Scottish Government to identify and quantify the role and contribution Local Authority Buildings Standards Scotland (LABSS) makes to the delivery of the building standards system in Scotland. LABSS works closely with BSD to produce technical and procedural guidance papers,…
Improved fire safety for new flats and social homes – Dissemination Events
20th January 2021
Changes to sprinkler regulations Work on fire safety, including greater provision of automatic fire suppression systems, has been taken forward as part of the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety, formed following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017. An important part of this work was to increase the provision of automatic fire…
Introducing the Competency Assessment System
17th December 2020
A guest post by Bob Renton, Consultant to Local Authority Building Standards Scotland, about the development of the Competency Assessment System and plans for implementation next year. The Competency Assessment System, or CAS for short, has been developed over the last couple of years by Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) with involvement from many…
Certification
4th December 2020
Blog by William Hamilton – Certification Officer The use of certifiers of design and construction have become commonplace as part of the building standards system. However, the reports carried out after the Edinburgh Schools Inquiry and Grenfell Tower Tragedy have highlighted that an increase in the scope of certification could help to improve the construction…
Meet the Expert – the first Building Standards Ambassador Event
26th November 2020
A guest post from Danny Henderson, City of Edinburgh Council After being invited by the Building Standards Division to join the newly formed Building Standards Ambassadors Network earlier in the year, I was delighted to participate in my first engagement session with many young people from high schools across Scotland. I was asked to participate…
A Building Standards Career
1st October 2020
A guest post by Ann-Marie Scollon To mark the launch of the Building Standards Workforce Strategy, Ann-Marie Scollon, Building Standards Surveyor in West Dunbartonshire Council shares her experience of joining the profession. In 2010, I graduated with a Building Surveying degree. During my studies, I encountered a lecturer who was passionate about Building Standards Surveying….
Building Standards Division on working from home
24th September 2020
Blog by Senior Management Team, Linda Stewart, Steven Scott and Neil Mitchell When we left the office in March, no one expected we would be away from our desks, each other and our normal routines for so long! Now, working from home (WFH) is the new normal! It has not been without its challenges, setting…
Building Standards Workforce Strategy Blog – September 2020
11th September 2020
blog by Gordon Gilchrist Leading up to March this year, Building Standards Division was full steam ahead with preparations to launch the workforce strategy. So much work was in place to make sure the strategy would be ready for its planned launch at the end of May. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic we had…
Impacts of COVID-19 on the Building and Construction Sector in Australia
24th August 2020
A guest post from Neil Savery, Chief Executive, Australian Building Codes Board In many respects the building and construction sector has fared better than most, as at no stage has it been subject to closure as part of any lockdown measures applied to date. This in part reflects the significance of its contribution to the…
Impacts of COVID-19 on the Building and Construction Sector in America
20th August 2020
A guest post from Judy Zakreski, Vice President of Global Services, International Code Council, America The COVID-19 pandemic with which the world is still contending has impacted every aspect of life, and the construction and building safety industry are no exception. Every country – and in some countries, individual jurisdictions – have navigated a different…