Fife Council to host national Building Standards Hub

Fife Council's Cabinet Committee has given approval for the local authority to host a permanent national Building Standards Hub.

At their meeting recently it was agreed that a separate specialist unit will deliver national advice, learning and development and a range of building standards system services to all of Scotland's local authority building
standards teams and stakeholders in the construction sector.

The move comes after a successful pilot programme, that has been running since May 2022, demonstrated the viability and sustainability of a Building Standards Hub for Scotland.

Funded from building warrant fees, the hub will aim to support transformation and quality in building standards services across Scotland. It will do this by providing a range of building standards system services, supporting hubs of expertise and operational partnerships and by supporting learning and development in the sector.

The Building Standards Hub will also operate, manage, and support specific hubs of expertise and provide specialist advice in areas including fire engineering, structural engineering, environmental and energy. These hubs will facilitate and pull together panels of expertise from both industry and the public sector to look at matters of national interest with a view to establishing consistent positions.

The success of this pilot in Fife, as well as the endorsements it has received, has led the Scottish Government to approve a permanent Building Standards Hub as an integral part of the building standards system moving forward.

Council Leader and Chair of the Cabinet Committee Cllr David Ross said: "A national hub such as this will be a fundamental part of improving building standards for the benefit of communities across Scotland.

"It also presents Fife Council with the opportunity to support innovation by hosting a national centre for expertise and resilience. I look forward to watching it deliver on its ambitious vision."

The full report on the Building Standards Hub is available in the Cabinet Committee papers of 11 Jan 2024.