The Building (Fees)(Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025: equality impact assessment

Equality impact assessment - Record

Minister

Paul McLennan, Minister for Housing

Lead official

Cameron Murdoch

Officials involved in the EQIA:

Cameron Murdoch

Fiona Sinclair

Neil Mitchell

Colette Templeton

Directorate – Division – Team

Directorate for Local Government and Housing: Building Standards Division: Development Unit

Is this new policy or revision to an existing policy?

Revision to existing policy

Screening

Policy Aim

This policy will increase building warrant fees from 1 April 2025, as part of a three year model to increase fees on an annual basis. This will provide additional resources to local authority verifiers to facilitate changes to improve and strengthen the building standards system in Scotland.

Background

Following the fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017 and the construction failings of Edinburgh School buildings, a Ministerial Working Group was set up to review building and fire safety regulatory frameworks. The Group commissioned two Expert Review panels; Compliance and Enforcement and Fire Safety, that subsequently published their own recommendations. The Building Standards Futures Board was set up at the beginning of 2019 to provide guidance and direction on the development and implementation of the recommendations made by the Review Panels. The Verification Delivery Model was identified as an area that required strengthening, resulting in the formation of the Verification Delivery Model Working Group (DMWG) that oversees the Verification Delivery Model workstream.

Building warrant fees in Scotland were increased on 1 April 2024 through the Building (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024, part of a three year model to increase fees annually, providing additional resources to verifiers to facilitate the strengthening of the system, implemented by the Building Standards Futures Board Programme. This intended increase will be year 2 of the three year model of the policy.

A proportion of the fee increase from the first year has been used to fund the Scottish Building Standards Hub (SBSH), which was formally launched in May 2024. The SBSH is one of the outcomes of the Verification Delivery Model workstream and one of the recommendations from the Expert Review Panels following Grenfell. The SBSH strengthens the system by providing support and assistance to all 32 local authorities and the wider construction industry by providing access to expertise and specialist advice in fire engineering solutions, fire safety, structural engineering and energy and environmental engineering. It also provides 32 verifiers access to learning and development opportunities and promotes the growth of workforce through universities, colleges and Apprenticeship programmes.

Building Standards Division is undertaking a broad range of work to strengthen the building standards system in Scotland. This includes ensuring verifiers are resourced appropriately to provide a strengthened building standards service for the development of safe and compliant buildings in Scotland.

Modelling carried out in 2022-23 by Optimal Economics has identified building warrant fee levels for 2025-26 to deliver appropriate resources to verifiers.

Following the fee increase from 1 April 2024 and the introduction of the three year fee model, verifiers are expected to use funds to invest in their teams and departments to strengthen their service. BSD have implemented a reporting and monitoring process for Local Authority verifiers, data gathered will be used to inform the decision making process to increase fees for years 2 and 3 of the model and identify other activity in the coming years.

Public Sector Equality Duty

In developing this policy, the Scottish Government is mindful of the three needs of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), as follows:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Where any negative impacts have been identified, we have sought to mitigate/eliminate these. We are also mindful that the equality duty is not just about negating or mitigating negative impacts, as we also have a positive duty to promote equality.

Who will it affect?

This policy will affect all customers and users of the building standards system who apply for a building warrant and will also affect local authority building standards verifiers.

All users of the building standards system will benefit from an improved and strengthened building standards service through further investment from increases in the building standards fees.

Those affected may include, but isn't limited to:

• General public applying for a building warrant.
• Construction sector bodies involved in applying for building warrants.
• Organisations involved in large construction projects such as building shopping centres, hospitals and schools.
• Industry and professional organisations.
• Local authority building standards departments.

The application process for a building warrant is completed online via a national eBuilding Standards Portal. This portal is linked to all 32 local authority building standards websites. Paper application forms are also available to download from the Scottish Government's website. Where users are unable to access the internet, all local authority building standards teams are available to be contacted for further help and assistance in applying for a building warrant.

What might prevent the desired outcomes being achieved?

Ministerial support – Retraction of support from the appropriate Minister due to a change in government priorities/direction.

Legislation – Increasing building warrant fees will require a change in fees legislation as set previously in the following legislation:

• The Building (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2004
• The Building (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017
• The Building (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024

New legislation will need to be signed off by the appropriate Minister and laid before parliament. There is the potential at this stage, for the SSI to be annulled when passing through Parliament.