The Building (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025: business and regulatory impact assessment

Section 5: Next steps and implementation

Recommendations / preferred options

Option 1 is the option being taken forwards. This allows local authorities to receive the increased building warrant fee income within the new financial year 2025-26. This will also aid reporting and monitoring purposes each quarter as per Key performance Framework and most importantly provide the increased resource and assurance to verifiers that changes to the building standards system brought through the Futures Board programme will be funded.

Implementation considerations / plan

Building warrant fees will be increased from 1 April 2025. Fee levels have been independently validated by an external research contractor as per the building warrant fee model and reviewed by Scottish Government officials and Verification Delivery Model Working Group.

The Building (Fees)(Scotland) Amendment Regulations SSI will be drafted in partnership with SGLD, reviewed by Scottish Government’s SSI Unit and signed by the Minister on 14 January 2025. It will then be laid in Parliament on 16 January 2025 for consideration by the Delegated Powers and Law Reform (DPLR) Committee and subsequently, the Local Government, Housing and Planning (LGHP) Committee. The SSI will be expected to take at least 40 days, as required, to pass through Parliament and will come into force on the 1 April 2025. The necessary impact assessments such as a BRIA and EQIA will accompany the SSI when it is laid in Parliament.

Additional communication and engagement will be provided to local authorities to provide to customers and businesses to inform them of the relevant changes to legislation. Additonal comms will be undertaken by Scottish Government to highlight changes to user of the building standard system through social media, blog and direct engagement.

Officials in Scottish Government eDevelopment are aware of changes and have considered and planned for changes to back-office systems and supporting software. Necessary back-office changes will also be communicated to the respective local authority technical teams who are also aware of the intention to change building warrant fees in 2025.

Post implementation review

Officials in BSD are undertaking additional monitoring and reporting of fee investment in local authority verifier teams following on from the increase in building warrant fees in 2024. Verifiers have provided investment and planning reports to BSD for their respective local authority and additonal report monthly data on their compliance activity. The information submitted has informed the Verifier Resource Investment and Planning Report that will support direct engagement with local authorities to see progress on their plans and support Ministerial decisions on future increases to building warrant fees.

This work will continue throughout the three year period of the building warrant fee model and information provided on a monthly basis and through quarterly KPO reporting will be followed up directly with local authorities for progress updates. The main criteria being monitored and reported on is income and expenditure of building warrant fees, number of compliance inspections and checks each month, workforce planning and investment in technology and staff development.

The three year fee model is flexible to allow for changes to building warrant fees in year 3 (2026-27) of the building warrant fees model to allow for any feedback or take account of changing future requirements.