SCOT. B S' HUB

A Building Warrant is the legal permission to erect, convert, alter, extend or demolish a building. It is granted by your local authority building standards service.

It is valid for three years from the date of granting and your work should be completed before it expires. In some cases the local authority may agree to extend the validity but you should discuss this with them as soon as you think completion will be delayed.

Construction work CANNOT begin before the building warrant has been approved.

If you are using the services of an Approved Certifier of Design they should advise you when they issue their certificate (and before you apply for a building warrant) whether any design elements are still to be prepared by a specialist third party (usually in relation to specialist systems and components). These are aspects of design that are expected to be completed later in the construction phase and do not have to be in place to allow the building warrant to be granted.

When your building warrant is granted, your local authority will also issue a Finalisation Notice (Form Q), to be completed by your Approved Certifier of Design once they have checked the specialist designs. You then must return the completed Form Q to your local authority. This is important as your local authority will not be able to accept the final work as being complete and satisfactory in line with the building regulations without a completed Form Q.