Building Standards

  • Seeking views on how digital technologies can transform delivery of the building standards system

    23rd August 2021 by

    The Building Standards Futures Board has confirmed their agreement with our plans for the digital transformation of the building standards system in Scotland. Delivery of this transformation will be done in partnership with industry, and Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) who represent all of the building standards professionals employed in local authorities. As this...

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  • The Role of LABSS within the Building Standards System – Customer Survey

    25th May 2021 by

    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, it...

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  • Improved fire safety for new flats and social homes – Dissemination Events

    20th January 2021 by

    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...

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  • Introducing the Competency Assessment System

    17th December 2020 by

    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...

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  • Certification

    4th December 2020 by

     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...

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  • Meet the Expert – the first Building Standards Ambassador Event

    26th November 2020 by

    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...

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  • 2020 National Customer Satisfaction Survey Now Live

    8th October 2020 by

    We are pleased to announce that the 2020 National Customer Satisfaction Survey is live. Now in its seventh year, the purpose of the annual survey of users of the local authority building standards service, is to obtain nationally consistent customer satisfaction data across all 32 local authorities in Scotland and to enable comparison analysis between...

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  • A Building Standards Career

    1st October 2020 by

    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....

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  • Building Standards Division on working from home

    24th September 2020 by

    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...

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  • Building Standards Workforce Strategy Blog – September 2020

    11th September 2020 by

    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...

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