Smoothing the building-standards process

Standards sign

Academics at Glasgow Caledonian University have won funding to explore how best to digitise Scotland’s building-standards system.

Presently, the process of applying for approval documents, such as building warrants and completion certificates, varies between a digital and paper-based system, prompting researchers from the Built Environment Asset Management (BEAM) Centre to collate the needs of all those who need to engage with the process.

The project is being funded by the Building Standards Division of the Scottish Government, with Built Environment – Sustainable Transition (BE~ST) acting as programme leads, supported by several other Scottish universities.  Glasgow Caledonian has received £132,200 for its part.

Professor Billy Hare, co-director of the BEAM Centre, said: “We will ascertain the needs of all system users, from local authority building-standards officers to architects and contractors, to members of the public.

“This will help the Scottish Government with the implementation of their digital strategy for the building-standards system, ensuring whatever digital solution that is developed in the future, is tailored to help as many stakeholders as possible to easily and effectively access and use the system, to help move away from a paper-based system.”

Dr Michael Tong, Principal Investigator and Head of Department for Construction & Surveying, added: “This research aims to improve the value of data within the building-standards system. We will be focusing on the establishment of a national register of approvals and compliance information for high-risk buildings, a national digital building-standards register and digital compliance for SMEs.”

The project team is scheduled to report its findings by October this year, with new systems potentially being rolled out over the next couple of years.

The Glasgow Caledonian University team consists of Professor Hare, Dr Tong, Tony Kilpatrick, Dr Farhad Sadeghineko, Dr Michael McGuire, Professor Craig Thomson and Dr Kenneth Lawani.