about certification of building design

[It can help to read our previous section on building warrants/building control approval before reading this information]

Where do design certificates fit into the warrant process?

Where a building warrant is required for works in Scotland, the structural engineering information submitted with the application can either be:

drawings and calculations submitted to the local authority for them to check that the design complies with the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 or
drawings and a design certificate confirming that the design complies with the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. (i.e. local authority do not check for compliance but may request additional information)

There is no difference between the building warrant granted for either option.

Where has this come from?

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 which, among other things, puts forward the concepts of:

certification of both design and construction by individuals known as ‘certifiers’
verification of certifiers who submit design certificates by individuals known as ‘verifiers’
an appropriate scheme to control these processes

The intention is to ensure that individuals who supply design certificates act within a regulated and audited scheme, with appropriate checks and controls, whereby a greater assurance of safety may be provided than had sometimes been experienced in applications for building warrant in the past, i.e. where engineers certified things that were incorrect, that they did not understand, where they were subjected to unfair commercial or personal pressure in order to certify something, or where they behaved in an unprofessional or incompetent manner.

In Scotland only, the Act enables an engineer who is a member of a suitable scheme to check the structural design of works and include a design certificate with an application for building warrant, signifying that the design complies fully with building regulations.

Who gets to be a member of a scheme?

At present there is only one scheme for engineering certification in existence. It’s joining criteria are that:

a certifier must meet the defined requirements for an Approved Certifier of Design (ACD), make an application for that role, and be accepted
the certifier’s employer must meet the defined requirements for an Approved Body (AB) and either make an application for that role and be accepted, or already have done so at a previous time in relation to another certifier.

Once these steps are completed the individual has joined the scheme and may issue design certificates in the form permitted under the scheme. Joining fees are also required from both the certifier and the approved body.

Approved Bodies are necessary because the cost of proving the ancilliaries necessary for certifiers to carry out their tasks are too great for individuals to bear.

What does the certificate mean?

It means the certifying engineer responsible has ensured that all aspects of the structural design of a project satisfy the requirements of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. It is a statement of achievement of certain standards.

How do engineers feel about it?

Certification is a considerable responsibility and the scheme is viewed with mixed feelings by many busy engineers as a result, especially as it carries an element of personal liability. This liability needs to be insured against and many certifiers now carry their own personal PI insurance as a result, not relying on their employers to protect them in this regard.

So, tell me more about the schemes.

As mentioned, at present there is only one scheme that has been accredited for the certification of building structures by the Scottish Government.

The Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers have set up a scheme, administered by a commercial company called Structural Engineer’s Registration Ltd, to provide certification. SER Ltd is based within the Institution of Structural Engineers’ headquarters office in London.

The scheme is usually referred to as the SER scheme, and the design certificate provided under the scheme is often referred to as an SER certificate. This scheme is described in SER’s extensive Scheme Guide. They also produce a less technical condensed document to guide clients.

The scheme is enforced by auditing of both certifiers (ACDs) and their employers (ABs).

Certifiers are checked for things such as maintaining institution membership, continued professional development and technical knowledge etc, while Approved Bodies are checked for the quality and completeness of the project records that they hold, compliant quality, training and health and safety systems, up-to-date computer software etc.

It is worth noting however, that the auditors tell the engineer in advance which projects will be audited. There are good reasons why this happens but the flaw that this introduces into the auditing system is acknowledged.

Costs

SER Ltd state in their client guidance that the scheme requires additional work from the consultant and this has to be expected to result in increased costs.

How much?

The cost to engineering practices of running the scheme properly can be considerable. For each project this is typically an additional 15% of the fees they would normally charge and is subject to a minimum amount of around £250-300.

Warrant application fee = £980

Engineer’s fee might be 1.5% of build cost = £1500 so:

Certification fees at 15% of £1500 or £275 minimum = £275
SER Ltd fee @ 3% of warrant fee or £30 minimum = £30
Total extra fees = £305

On the other hand, warrant application fees are reduced by 10% when a certificate is submitted.

Saving on warrant fee = £98

Therefore the net cost increase = £207.00

As a result, and due to these percentages being fairly universal, there is little cost incentive for certification from the client’s perspective.

Getting a warrant used to be long winded. Are things better now?

The passing of the Act and the subsequent introduction of this particular scheme to satisfy it has reduced the workload of structural engineers in building control departments throughout Scotland. Where staffing levels have been maintained this has reduced the length of time it takes to get the structural aspects of a project approved, regardless of the method of application – either with a design certificate or by submission of calculations for checking. So things are generally quicker these days and that’s good for all of us.

Will a design certificate speed up getting my building warrant?

For smaller projects (most domestic projects and those others under approximately £100,000 build cost) we find that the answer is no. For larger or more complex projects, the answer is a qualified yes. Here’s why; first the ‘No’:

The ‘No’ – smaller projects

Usually there is more to getting a warrant than checking the engineering.

The process of reviewing a project by a local authority prior to granting a building warrant consists of studying both the architectural information and the engineering information. Even if the latter is covered by a certificate and so does not receive a full review, the former still has to be checked for compliance with the complex building regulations covering this discipline. (These are due to become even more complex in October 2010 as new environmental legislation is introduced). This routinely results in queries being returned to the architect for consideration and re-submission. It is this sequence of events that usually controls the length of time it takes to get a building warrant and the provision of a certificate to cover the engineering information has little or no influence on the time taken. However in some cases the local authority may still request further clarification on the engineering works despite the provision of a design certificate. Small wonder that clients sometimes question the point of the certificate.

The qualified ‘Yes’ – larger or more complex projects

Where the design document becomes very large, contains unusual subject areas or complex computational analysis, checking by the local authority may become lengthy or impractical due to their limited resources. In such cases the pragmatic way forward is to submit a design certificate with the drawings as part of the warrant application. The cost implications at this level of project are unlikely to be significant for the client and it will certainly not slow the warrant process down.

For completeness’ sake – in the case where calculations are submitted for a large project and the checking work is beyond the capacity or capability of the local authority, they can contract out the checking work. This can be expensive for the authority and they cannot pass the cost on, so it may be resisted by the authority who may press for submission of a design certificate. The delays inherent in this to-and-fro may give considerable leverage to the authority and their request. However, we have found there is a lack of clarity on whether or not the authority can insist upon being provided with a design certificate.

Having said all that, clients should bear in mind that the points made above about the checking of architectural information often governing the time taken to get a warrant remain true for larger projects as well and that the local authority may request further clarification on engineering issues despite the provision of a certificate. It should not be assumed that taking the pragmatic, certified, path on the engineering submission will result in the swift progress of a larger project through to warrant.

The official line from a local authority

The official line from the City of Edinburgh Council’s building control department is that, regardless of submission type (i.e. design certificate plus drawings, or calculations plus drawings), warrant applications are processed strictly in the order they are received and will be turned around within four weeks.

Are there areas of a project that are not covered by certificates?

Yes. Some common areas that are not covered by any certification scheme at present include:

Architectural matters generally
Mechanical and electrical design
Fire engineering
Demolition
Contaminated land
Flooding
Drainage schemes

Calculations and drawings for these elements still have to be submitted in full to the local authority for checking in the traditional manner.

England and Wales

There is no equivalent of the Act in England and Wales and as a result no certification schemes exist there.

There is opposition to the introduction of any such schemes among the engineering community in England and Wales, where the UK’s large consultants are based. This is due to the increase in internal costs this causes. These costs are a problem because of the difficulty in passing them on to clients. Clients are unhappy at the prospect of being asked to pay extra for something they thought they were getting anyway – safe designs that comply with the Building Regulations. This point is hard to refute, especially against the background of the functioning alternative to certification currently in operation. See the England and Wales section in our article on building warrants/building control approval.

At present there seems no immediate prospect of the introduction of certification taking place in England and Wales and building control approval of projects remains via the three routes outlined in the aforementioned article.

Our recommendations to clients

For small projects, domestic alterations and new build housing under £100,000 in Edinburgh and most other local authority areas in Scotland our experience is that there isn’t a proven advantage for clients in purchasing a design certificate. We generally submit presentation quality sets of calculations to the local authority for such projects. We have to prepare these in any case.

Where the project value is higher, the design document very large or it contains unusual items or complex computational analysis, we recommend submitting a design certificate with the drawings for warrant. We can advise you on this and provide the required certificate if necessary.