Building standards customer charter

Our aim are:

• to grant building warrants and accept completion certificates
• to secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of persons in and about buildings and others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings
• furthering the conservation of fuel and power and
• furthering the achievement of sustainable development

To provide a professional and informative service to all our customers.

Nationally all local authority verifiers will:

1. Seek to reduce the average time it takes for customers to obtain a building warrant or amendment to warrant.
2. Ensure continuous improvement around the robustness of our verification assessments to ensure compliance.
3. Meet and seek to exceed customer expectations.
4. Carry out local customer satisfaction research, such as surveys or focus groups.
5. Address feedback obtained through local and national customer satisfaction research (including a National Customer Satisfaction Survey) to improve the customer experience.
6. Provide information on local formal complaints procedures, the Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) Dispute Resolution Process, and the Building Standards Division (BSD) Customer Performance Reporting Service, and refer customers as appropriate.
7. Provide accurate financial data that is evidence‐based.
8. Engage and participate in partnership working at a local and national level to identify and embed service improvements at a national level.
9. Adhere to a national annual verification performance report outlining our objectives, targets and performance.
10. Fully adhere to the commitments outlined in this Charter (including information on customer dissatisfaction in relation to building warrant processing timescales, processes and technical interpretation.
11. Use a consistent format for continuous improvement plans.

We will:

• treat you fairly and with respect
• expect you to treat our staff with respect
• offer a friendly and polite service and be sensitive to your needs
• deal with your communications promptly
• deal with your enquiry at first point of contact, wherever possible
• make best use of technology to enable service improvements
• do our best to help you and let you know how quickly we can take action
• provide easy to understand information about the services we provide
• make information and services accessible online
• deal with your feedback positively and quickly
• keep your details confidential as far as possible

We will:

• answer the phone within five rings whenever possible
• give you our name when we answer your call to let you know who you are speaking to
• deal with your enquiry on the spot if we can
• advise you what we can do to assist and by when, or tell you why we cannot help (if we cannot help you immediately, we will try to tell you who can)
• if you call and the person you need to speak to is not available, we will leave a message with the duty Surveyor who will return your call the same working day

We will:

• acknowledge all written correspondence within seven working days of receipt, and we will provide a full written response within 28 calendar days. In cases where there is going to be a delay, we will send you an interim reply explaining the position
• make our communications clear and easy to understand
• arrange for letters to be:
  • translated
  • interpreted over the phone
  • provide email responses
  • make available in large print, braille or other formats if necessary

We will:

• display that although there is no public reception within the Opera House building, we will provide an alternative public reception at the Johnnie Walker Bond which is within close proximity and provide all relevant contact information to assist you
• arrange in advance to meet with you, if requested, at the Opera House to provide general information or advice – if you wish to make an appointment to discuss a particular matter with a specific member of staff you can also do so
• try to arrange meetings where possible that are convenient for both parties
• deal with all your enquiries about the Building Standards Service and where necessary contact the appropriate Council service as required
• clearly display how you can make a complaint
• have induction loops for those who require them for any meetings

Building Standards will try to provide the following standards of performance at all times, but please note that very large or complex projects may take longer. A more accurate estimate of the expected response times can be discussed with any member of staff at the time of enquiry submission.

We will:

• provide a first response assessment to applications for building warrants within 20 working days where possible
• issue building warrants within 10 working days of receipt of all satisfactory information where possible
• respond to the request for a completion certificate within three working days
• accept completion certificates within three working days of being satisfied that the work complies with the warrant and building regulations where possible

We are committed to providing high-quality customer services and value complaints using information from them to help us improve our services. If something goes wrong or you are dissatisfied with our service, please tell us.

Our aim is to sort out as many complaints as possible at the first point of contact. You can speak to the member of staff you have been dealing with or alternatively with the Building Standards team Leader or the Chief Planning Officer and they will attempt to resolve the matter for you on the spot.

You can also get in tough with use using our online contact us form. This is the quickest and easiest way to get the matter sorted.

We have a two-stage complaints procedure, find out more about our complaints handling procedures.

We will:

• endeavour to give you a full response to your complaint within five working days for Stage 1 complaints
• endeavour to give you a full response to your complaint within 20 working days for Stage 2 complaints
• apologise to you, if appropriate, and take action to solve the problem
• consider your complaint when we review our service and our staff

If you have submitted a building warrant application and have not received either the warrant or a technical response within 35 working days of receipt of your valid application you have the right to request a resolution to the matter. This can be done by initially contacting the chief planning officer.

If after this you are still unsatisfied you can also report the issue to the Building Standards Division of Scottish Government by emailing  buildingstandards@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

While East Ayrshire Council Building Standards seek agreement in how interpretation matters are handled, inevitably a difference of opinion can result.

In this event, Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) have developed a process whereby the applicant has access to a resolution process. The Building Standards Division of the Scottish Government supports the adoption of the LABSS Dispute Resolution Process and will refer applicants to the process.

Initial requests should be submitted to the Chief Planning Officer, thereafter a consultation process will be undertaken before determining a final position.

If at any time in the process the applicant seeks a view from the BSD, the resolution process is terminated, and BSD view is adopted by the instigating authority. Similarly, if at any time in the process the applicant lodges a complaint through the council’s formal complaints procedure, then the local authority process takes precedence and the resolution process is terminated.

Further information can be found at Advice on a Dispute Resolution Process | LABSS

Building Standards aims to provide a helpful, professional and informative service to all our customers to help them to comply with the Building (Scotland) Act and allied legislation. So it’s important that we get your views on the service we provide.

To do this we will:

• carry out customer satisfaction surveys; listen and learn from any suggestions, comments and complaints made
• ask you to help us by using a reference number in all correspondence
• ask you to make an appointment if you wish to meet with a member of our staff

Customers can complete and submit building warrant applications, completion certificates and other related forms associated with the building standards system through the Scottish Government eBuildingStandards Service.

You can also upload documentation you have to support your application Getting Started on eBuilding standards Scotland