Chairman welcomes government decision on building standards

Chairman of The Highland Council’s Planning, Environment and Development Committee, Councillor Ian Ross has welcomed the Scottish Governments decision for Council staff across Scotland to continue to be the only government appointed verifies for new homes and buildings in Scotland.

A public consultation earlier this year looked at introducing the private sector on a limited basis to verify building standards. The consultation attracted nearly 200 responses from the construction and development sector, and nearly three quarters of those who responded were not in favour of change.

Councillor Ian Ross said:  “Our building standards service is helping support economic growth in the Highlands as well as tackling climate change and promoting sustainability.  The role of our staff is a wide one from independently checking building work from the first stages of design, through to completion to ensure new homes, offices and public buildings meet all relevant building regulations. It is reassuring that the Scottish Government have decided that local authorities are the best placed to serve the public interest.

“At The Highland Council we have set up a detailed system of closely monitoring the work of our building standards team and reporting this to Committee.  Over the last three years there has been a consistent improvement in the service we provide so I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for all their hard work.”