Services engineers in Scotland may soon be able to certify the compliance of their designs with Scottish Building Regulations after radical changes to the regulations come into effect on 1 May.

Under the changes, Scotland will adopt a performance-based system similar to the one already used in England and Wales.

Inspectors, called verifiers, will ensure a scheme’s design and construction complies with the new regulations. In addition, two new roles have been created – a certifier of design and a certifier of construction – which would enable registered certifiers to approve their own work.

The Institution of Structural Engineers has already set up a scheme with the Institution of Civil Engineers to enable its members to become certifiers of design.

Hywel Davies, CIBSE research manager, said the institution was discussing the possibility of its members becoming certifiers. He said: “We are talking to people north of the border and to government about allowing CIBSE members to be certifiers.”

The ODPM is monitoring to see if a similar scheme could be adopted in England and Wales.

Source

Building Sustainable Design