I've recently been trying to track down the Scottish building regs
online. I wanted to find an equivalent to the PlanningPortal website,
which usefully hosts free downloadable PDFs of building regs. The
'equivalent' website in Scotland seems to be sbsa.co.uk (Scottish
Building Standards Agency). You can download a document from there
that the website folks claim specifies the building regs for Scotland.
This document doesn't actually provide much usable info (it's more at
the level of saying things like "drainage should be like green and,
basically good, mkay? Also, let's talk about reed beds") so isn't
equivalent to the PlanningPortal docs. When I spoke to the people at
the SBSA, they said that the details on how to meet the requirements
set out are up to local authorities to decide. The doc that the SBSA
provide does make reference to numerous British Standards, so maybe
this is where the real detail resides. BS-* cost big bucks as far as I
can see.

So in England and Wales, regs are published free, and in Scotland,
according to the SBSA, regs are decided by individual councils who
don't seem to be under any obligation to tell people what they are. I
must assume the SBSA are talking nonsense or are incapable of making
the situation clear, since as described it's absurd. I had previously
thought that the building regs were very similar to those in England
and Wales, but with different identificatory letters. (Part X in E&W
is Part Y in Scotland kinda think)

Does anyone know whether the Scottish building regs are actually
available anywhere online, for a smelly serf like me to look at?

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:32:24 -0700 Mr Uncalled-For wrote :
Does anyone know whether the Scottish building regs are actually
available anywhere online, for a smelly serf like me to look at?

http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/tech_handbooks/tbooks2007.htm

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

On Aug 15, 6:42 pm, Tony Bryer wrote:
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:32:24 -0700 Mr Uncalled-For wrote :

Does anyone know whether the Scottish building regs are actually
available anywhere online, for a smelly serf like me to look at?

http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/tech_handbooks/tbooks2007.htm

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

Yep, that's the document without the useful details, that I referred
to!

For example, it manages to talk about waste water drainage without
making any reference to "32mm" etc.

That section can be paraphrased as "Waste water systems should obey
the british standards", whereas, the planning portal site (England &
Wales) actually has includes concrete details.

Equivalent Scottish building regulations (given a definition of
building regs where they are useful) don't seem to be available
online. Or am I wrong?
Perhaps it's too dangerous to let people in Scotland know the building
regs.

On Aug 16, 5:58 am, "cerberus" wrote:

Well, when you get your independence you can create your own ;-)


The independent republic of my house. Sounds ideal.

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:58:58 -0700 Cerberus wrote :
Well, when you get your independence you can create your own ;-)

They already have! We produce the SuperHeat program which checks new
dwellings against the Approved Document provisions relating to energy
efficiency. The rules are different in each of the three
jurisdictions, E&W, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Two examples:

In E&W and NI there are no set rules for compliance: the fundamental
principle is that you work out the CO2 for an identically sized
dwelling built to 2002 standards, knock off 20% and that's the target
your design mustn't exceed. Lots of arithmetic which is why you buy
the software g. There's a deliberate ethos of saying "this is what
we are looking for, but how you deliver it is up to you", the move
away from prescriptive regulations that lots of designers have asked
for. But, as the Architects' Journal observed when the new rules came
in, you really don't know whether something will comply until you've
run the numbers through the software. In Scotland you can do this, but
they have what are called 'packages': design to the package spec -
U-values, boiler efficiency etc - and you know your design will
comply. Pragmatic rather than philosophical.

In E&W and NI SuperHeat is required to produce a compliance checklist,
listing the various requirements and whether they are met; when
checking to Scottish provisions we are explicitly prohibited from
producing a checklist since the feeling is that having one would
reduce the checking process to a box ticking exercise.

... and there's more where these came from ....

At one time SuperHeat was probably the only software package in the
world to have a Northern Ireland edition of the manual, the rules at
that time bearing little resemblance to the rest of the UK.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

"Mr Uncalled-For" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Aug 15, 6:42 pm, Tony Bryer wrote:
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:32:24 -0700 Mr Uncalled-For wrote :

Does anyone know whether the Scottish building regs are actually
available anywhere online, for a smelly serf like me to look at?

http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/tech_handbooks/tbooks2007.htm

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

Yep, that's the document without the useful details, that I referred
to!

For example, it manages to talk about waste water drainage without
making any reference to "32mm" etc.

That section can be paraphrased as "Waste water systems should obey
the british standards", whereas, the planning portal site (England &
Wales) actually has includes concrete details.

Equivalent Scottish building regulations (given a definition of
building regs where they are useful) don't seem to be available
online. Or am I wrong?
Perhaps it's too dangerous to let people in Scotland know the building
regs.


Well, when you get your independence you can create your own ;-)

Don.

"Mr Uncalled-For" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Aug 15, 6:42 pm, Tony Bryer wrote:
On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:32:24 -0700 Mr Uncalled-For wrote :

Does anyone know whether the Scottish building regs are actually
available anywhere online, for a smelly serf like me to look at?

http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/tech_handbooks/tbooks2007.htm

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

Yep, that's the document without the useful details, that I referred
to!

For example, it manages to talk about waste water drainage without
making any reference to "32mm" etc.

That is the way that regulations are written today. For example, I only know
of one instance of anything being quantified in the Health and Safety at
Work Regulations - the height of a handrail must be at least 1.1m.
Everywhere else, they are written in vague generalities and you then get
guidelines to tell you what will, normally, be deemed to comply. I suspect
that what you are looking for is not the regulations, but a guide to
interpreting the regulations.

Colin Bignell

On Aug 16, 8:31 am, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my surname
here.uk.com wrote:

I suspect
that what you are looking for is not the regulations, but a guide to
interpreting the regulations.

I'm looking for what's currently on the Planning Portal website
(England & Wales), but for Scotland.

i.e: documents that don't just reference British Standards, but
include some usable detail.

Mr Uncalled-For wrote:
On Aug 16, 8:31 am, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my surname
here.uk.com wrote:

I suspect
that what you are looking for is not the regulations, but a guide to
interpreting the regulations.

I'm looking for what's currently on the Planning Portal website
(England & Wales), but for Scotland.

i.e: documents that don't just reference British Standards, but
include some usable detail.


Lets look at it this way, which may solve your problem

1. you do have access to the Scottish Building regulations
2. you need help in the interpretation and finer details
3. you do have access to the planning portal docs which provide some finer
points and interpretation on *very* similar regulations and issues

How about you put 1 + 3 together and get 2 ? (dodgy maths)

Additionally you could always go and buy a book by Chudley and Greeno, which
will provide a lot of common sense and background knowledge in the general area.

cheers

David

On Aug 16, 11:52 am, dmoodie wrote:
Mr Uncalled-For wrote:
On Aug 16, 8:31 am, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my surname
here.uk.com wrote:

I suspect
that what you are looking for is not the regulations, but a guide to
interpreting the regulations.

I'm looking for what's currently on the Planning Portal website
(England & Wales), but for Scotland.

i.e: documents that don't just reference British Standards, but
include some usable detail.

Lets look at it this way, which may solve your problem

1. you do have access to the Scottish Building regulations
2. you need help in the interpretation and finer details
3. you do have access to the planning portal docs which provide some finer
points and interpretation on *very* similar regulations and issues

How about you put 1 + 3 together and get 2 ? (dodgy maths)

I'm scandalised by the implication! Applying English building regs in
Scotland!? Of course it did cross my mind. I also found that you can
access the British Standards at the library, so that's another route
to possibly take.

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:48:13 GMT, a particular chimpanzee, Tony Bryer
randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

There's a deliberate ethos of saying "this is what
we are looking for, but how you deliver it is up to you", the move
away from prescriptive regulations that lots of designers have asked
for.

Except for 99% of the people designing and building real buildings.
The likes of Richard Rogers and Will Allsop can afford teams of
environmental engineers to work out their building's carbon footprint,
but your average jobbing plan drawer, even more so your small builder
building a one-off house on a Building Notice, wants to know how much
insulation to put in the walls, what U-value windows do they put in,
how big can the windows be, etc.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:32:24 -0700, a particular chimpanzee, Mr
Uncalled-For randomly hit the keyboard
and produced:

Does anyone know whether the Scottish building regs are actually
available anywhere online, for a smelly serf like me to look at?

It seems one can get Approved Documents or Technical Documents from
all jurisdictions in the British Isles (apart from Guernsey), although
Scotland's are a bit light on detail.

As pointed out elsewhere, the system of Control may differ from south
of the border, but the basic intent is largely the same. The Eng&W
Approved Documents are mostly derived from British Standards and BRE
Guides anyway, so if the performance required is the same, the
guidance will be equally as valid. A lot of manufacturers with useful
websites or brochures will usually tailor them to cope with both
jurisdictions.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:13:29 +0100 Hugo Nebula wrote :
Except for 99% of the people designing and building real buildings.
The likes of Richard Rogers and Will Allsop can afford teams of
environmental engineers to work out their building's carbon footprint,
but your average jobbing plan drawer, even more so your small builder
building a one-off house on a Building Notice, wants to know how much
insulation to put in the walls, what U-value windows do they put in,
how big can the windows be, etc.

Agreed, it's just that those 99% are voiceless: it's people who work for
the big boys who are on committees, speak at conferences, draft BSs etc.
In my BCO days the most common request was "just tell me what to write
on the plan"!

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk