{"id":191,"date":"2020-05-04T09:43:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T08:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/?p=191"},"modified":"2020-05-04T12:08:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T11:08:42","slug":"responding-in-a-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Responding in a crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The restrictions on usual business practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have posed tough challenges for all of us.\u00a0 I want to start by recognising the fast response by local authorities to ensure the building standard service has been able to continue and commend everyone involved for going the extra mile to maintain services to their customers.\u00a0 Thank you for all you\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n<p>Building Standards Division is keeping in touch with verifiers on a weekly basis to monitor the impact of the restricted working conditions in line with UK and Scottish Government guidance.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been impressed by how quickly everyone has adapted to new home working arrangements and also how the e-building standards portal has enabled individuals and businesses to continue to submit their building warrant applications.\u00a0 The benefits of using digital technology to support new ways of working are clear.\u00a0 Increasing the use of technologies in the building standards system will remain a priority in the recovery period when restrictions can be lifted to allow a safe return to our offices and construction sites.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate the difficulties with carrying out site inspections at the moment.\u00a0 \u00a0The need to maintain physical distancing and ensuring we all stay safe means that site inspections by verifiers are limited.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/policies\/building-standards\/monitoring-performance\/\">Special measures<\/a> are in place to support a flexible approach to accepting evidence of compliance.\u00a0 Guidance has been issued around the use of temporary completion certificates when inspections leading to acceptance of completion certificates isn\u2019t possible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Building Standards Division is working with Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) and industry to develop best practice guidance on remote verification inspections for verifiers and developers.\u00a0 The guidance is based on a risk protocol to enable video and other digital formats to be presented and accepted as evidence of compliance with building regulations.\u00a0 This will help move the use of technology forward faster in response to the current restrictions and will complement well established inspection regimes in the future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I am also working closely with a range of industry representatives and LABSS on ensuring verifiers are able to respond quickly once construction sites can reopen safely.\u00a0 The Building Standards Resilience Liaison Group has been meeting weekly to discuss how we can collectively ensure the restart of work is supported with building warrant approvals and those properties requiring completion certificates are processed as quickly as possible.\u00a0 The Liaison Group is closely aligned with the Construction Leadership Forum and it\u2019s work to determine how the sector can adapt to a new normal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m keen that verifiers are able to raise issues for consideration by the Liaison Group.\u00a0 This can be done directly with Building Standards Division officials or through LABSS representatives to make sure the views of verifiers are put forward at the meetings.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The weeks ahead will require us to review the guidance on special measures and adapt to the changing situation so our response to the COVID-19 crisis is effective.\u00a0 However, I am reassured that the building standards system is in good shape and verifiers will be ready to meet the demand for their services once the current restrictions are eased.\u00a0 Building Standards has a key role to play in the economic recovery process and supporting other sectors to adapt safely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The restrictions on usual business practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have posed tough challenges for all of us.\u00a0 I want to start by recognising the fast response by local authorities to ensure the building standard service has been able to continue and commend everyone involved for going the extra mile to maintain&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":523,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-building-standards"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Responding in a crisis - Building Standards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Responding in a crisis - Building Standards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The restrictions on usual business practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have posed tough challenges for all of us.\u00a0 I want to start by recognising the fast response by local authorities to ensure the building standard service has been able to continue and commend everyone involved for going the extra mile to maintain...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Building Standards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-04T08:43:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-04T11:08:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephen Garvin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephen Garvin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stephen Garvin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/de426c3a5fd229e995cb5d38d69acd92\"},\"headline\":\"Responding in a crisis\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-04T08:43:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-04T11:08:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\"},\"wordCount\":551,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Building Standards\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\",\"name\":\"Responding in a crisis - Building Standards\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-04T08:43:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-04T11:08:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/de426c3a5fd229e995cb5d38d69acd92\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Responding in a crisis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/\",\"name\":\"Building Standards\",\"description\":\"Scottish Government Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/de426c3a5fd229e995cb5d38d69acd92\",\"name\":\"Stephen Garvin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/7f5\/7f517a5bb261d2dfd55374e2d9d0dfc8x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/7f5\/7f517a5bb261d2dfd55374e2d9d0dfc8x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Stephen Garvin\"},\"description\":\"Head of building standards Directorate for local government and communities\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/author\/stephengarvin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Responding in a crisis - Building Standards","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Responding in a crisis - Building Standards","og_description":"The restrictions on usual business practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have posed tough challenges for all of us.\u00a0 I want to start by recognising the fast response by local authorities to ensure the building standard service has been able to continue and commend everyone involved for going the extra mile to maintain...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/","og_site_name":"Building Standards","article_published_time":"2020-05-04T08:43:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-04T11:08:42+00:00","author":"Stephen Garvin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephen Garvin","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/"},"author":{"name":"Stephen Garvin","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/de426c3a5fd229e995cb5d38d69acd92"},"headline":"Responding in a crisis","datePublished":"2020-05-04T08:43:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-04T11:08:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/"},"wordCount":551,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Building Standards"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/","name":"Responding in a crisis - Building Standards","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-04T08:43:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-04T11:08:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/de426c3a5fd229e995cb5d38d69acd92"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/2020\/05\/04\/responding-in-a-crisis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Responding in a crisis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/","name":"Building Standards","description":"Scottish Government Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/de426c3a5fd229e995cb5d38d69acd92","name":"Stephen Garvin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/7f5\/7f517a5bb261d2dfd55374e2d9d0dfc8x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/7f5\/7f517a5bb261d2dfd55374e2d9d0dfc8x96.jpg","caption":"Stephen Garvin"},"description":"Head of building standards Directorate for local government and communities","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/author\/stephengarvin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/523"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/building-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}