The verification performance report is a strategic planning and management tool that provides information about the local authority building standards service, communicates the vision and strategy, and sets out performance against strategic goals and targets.

Building standards verifiers in Scotland are required to utilise the performance report to manage, monitor, review and develop strategies for their business, and should focus on the performance framework’s core perspectives and cross-cutting themes.

It will allow the assessment of building standards performance outcomes over a range of key national objectives, including:

• Overall time taken in the decision-making process
• Certainty of timescales in respect of decision making, the assessment process and the provision of advice
• Delivery of compliant development
• Management and assessment of building warrants and completion certificates
• Clear communications and open engagement
• Sharing of best practice
• An overall ‘open for business’ attitude

The three core perspectives are listed below with the Public Interest, Continuous Improvement and Partnership Working cross-cutting themes:

• Professional expertise and technical processes
• Quality customer experience
• Operational and financial efficiency

North Ayrshire is a medium sized local authority located some 25 miles South-West of Glasgow. Its total area is some 340 square miles, almost equally divided between the mainland and the islands of Arran & Cumbrae. It has a total coastline of 140 miles (42 on mainland and 98 on islands). Over three quarters of North Ayrshire’s population live in urban areas such as the main settlements of Irvine and Kilwinning, or within accessible smaller towns. The remainder of the population live in rural areas with 4.8% of the total population living in remote or very remote rural areas.

North Ayrshire being on the West Coast of Scotland has in excess of 20 beautiful golf courses some of which have hosted the Open Championship final Qualifying rounds, the Ladies Scottish Open, the Junior Open Championship and for the first time Dundonald Links in Irvine hosted the Scottish Open Championship in July 2017.

North Ayrshire’s total resident population was 136,130 in 2015. The social and economic context of North Ayrshire is mixed with the islands of Arran, Cumbrae and the northern coastal region being relatively affluent in contrast to the other areas.

North Ayrshire is more dependent on traditional manufacturing industries compared to Scotland as a whole and the main employers in the area include North Ayrshire Council itself, Ardagh Glass, Sigma Aldrich, GlaxoSmithKline, Caledonian Paper Plc, DSM Nutritional Products, EDF Energy, Magnox, Chivas Brothers Ltd, Taste of Arran, UPM Caledonian and British Polythene Industries.

The Building Standards Section currently comprises of two teams of 4 surveyors, each with a responsibility for a geographical area. Each team is a self-contained multi-functional unit having all the necessary professional skills, competence and experience to deliver the full range of verification services offered by the section.

The teams are also responsible for non-verification work including enforcement in respect of dangerous and defective structures, property complaints, unauthorised works, consultations, licensing inspections and liaison with North Ayrshire Access Panel.

Directorate organisational structure:

1. Chief Executive
2. Executive Director (Housing & Public Protection)
3. Head of Service (Housing & Public Protection)
4. Senior Manager (Protective Services)
5. Team Manager (Building Standards)

Building Standards forms part the Council’s Protective Services Section within the Housing & Public Protection, Place Directorate with the Protective Services Senior Manger reporting to the Head of Service for Housing & Public Protection. Building Standards operates from a single office within the Council’s headquarters at Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE.

As a result of the Councils Change Programme Building Standards was reorganised in October 2012 which resulted in two Senior Building Standards Surveyors being replaced by one Team Manager, the Chief and Assistant Chief were replaced by the Senior Manager of Protective Services (which incorporates Building Standards, Environmental Health and Trading Standards).

The two teams of 4 surveyors, Landward and Seaward, each have a responsibility for their designated geographical area. The teams work as self-contained multi-functional units having all the necessary professional skills, competence and experience to deliver the full range of verification services offered by the section. The surveyors in each team have been together for a number of years and this allows for a greater consistency and continuity during covered site visits. The Building Standards service provides an ‘office duty service’ where someone can come along and speak to a surveyor about the area they live in without first having to make an appointment. Electronic enquiries are welcomed via the Council’s ‘Contact us’ service. This allows cover to be provided for all site visits within North Ayrshire Council.

Following on from our success in winning the inaugural Scottish Building Standards award at the 2016 LABSS AGM & Conference, North Ayrshire Council Building Standards were again winners of the Scottish Building Standards Award for "National Building Standards Performance Excellence" presented at the 2017 LABSS AGM & Conference in the category of best medium sized local authority, in recognition of our hard work, excellent service and performance delivery.

The purpose of the building standards system is to protect the public interest. The system sets out the essential standards that are required to be met when building work or conversion of a building takes place in order to meet building regulations.

The building standards system checks that proposed building work or conversion of a building meets standards; inspections are limited to a minimal necessary to ensure that legislation is not avoided.

The control of work on site is not down to the system but is a matter for contracts and arrangements in place between a builder and client.

North Ayrshire Council Verifiers, appointed by Scottish Ministers for the next six years are responsible for the independent checking of applications for building warrants to construct or demolish buildings, to provide services, fittings or equipment in buildings, or for conversions.

The Head of Building Standards is at tier 4. Tier 1 = Chief Executive; Tier 2 = Directors; Tier 3 = Heads of Service; Tier 4 = Managers.

There is currently:

• one Managers post and no vacant posts
• eight Main Grade Posts (Surveyors) and no vacant posts
• one System Administrator post and no vacant posts
• two Office support/Administrator posts and no vacant posts (Access to centralised support staff from Business Support)

Office support/clerical is a shared resource, as such age profile not included below.

The statutory public interest objectives of the Building Standards System are firmly embedded in the Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) between North Ayrshire Council, North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership and the Scottish Government which outlines how we will achieve our shared Vision of ‘North Ayrshire – A Better Life’.

The Agreement updates and replaces the former Community Plan, and Council Plan.

Our vision is for Ayrshire to be a vibrant, outward looking, confident region, attractive to investors and visitors, making a major contribution to Scotland’s growth and local well-being, and leading the implementation of digital technologies and the next generation of manufacturing.

The AGD will contribute to this regional vision, creating a growing, innovative, smart, more productive and inclusive economy, by developing Ayrshire’s core strengths and ensuring our communities benefit from economic growth.

The Building Standards service has specific links to at least 5 of the 16 key national outcomes of the Scottish Government, namely 9, 10, 12, 14 & 16 as noted below:

• we live our lives safe from crime, disorder and danger
• we live in well-designed, sustainable places where we are able to access the amenities and services we need
• we value and enjoy our built and natural environment and protect it and enhance it for future generations
• we reduce the local and global environmental impact of our consumption and production
• our public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people's needs

The departmental issues to be addressed 2023 to 2024 are as follows:

• Budget pressures with emphasis on fee income monitoring
• Staff support through training, ensuring staff are kept up to date with industry changes Recruitment and retention of suitably qualified/experienced staff members
• Implement lessons learned from national and local customer satisfaction survey results and customer comments
• Provide electronic site survey hardware fully integrated with Idox software packages to enhance the ebuilding standards process

North Ayrshire Council’s Building Standards key strategic objectives for the coming year are to:

• improve our eBuilding Standards service (electronic on-site inspection)
• delivery of our performance framework plan
• continue to be an active member of and fully commit to the South West Scotland Consortium Group
• fully engage with and promote membership in LABSS. Engage in partnership working with all stakeholders
• ensure the continued health, safety and welfare of persons in or about buildings of North Ayrshire. To continue to be among the top performing Building Standards Authorities in Scotland.

The national verification performance framework is based on three core perspectives:

• Professional Expertise and Technical Processes
• Quality Customer Experience
• Operational and Financial Efficiency

There are also three cross-cutting themes, comprising:

• Public Interest
• Continuous Improvement
• Partnership Working

• KPO1 - minimise time taken to issue a first report or issue as building warrant or amendment.
• KPO2 - increase quality of compliance assessment during the construction processes.

1.1. 95% of first reports (for building warrants and amendments) issued within 20 days - all first reports (including building warrants and amendments issued without a first report).

1.2. 90% of building warrants and amendments issued within 10 days from receipt of all satisfactory information – all building warrants and amendments (not including BWs and amendments issued without a first report).

2.1. Targets to be developed as part of future review of KPO2.

• KPO3 - commit to the building standards customer charter
• KPO4 - understand and respond to the customer experience

3.1. National customer charter is published prominently on the website and incorporates version control detailing reviews (reviewed at least quarterly).

3.2. 95% of BSD requests for information on a BSD ‘Verifier Performance Reporting Service for Customers’ case responded to by verifier within 5 days.

4.1. Minimum overall average satisfaction rating of 7.5 out of 10.

• KPO5 - maintain financial governance
• KPO6 - commit to eBuilding Standards
• KPO7 - commit to objectives outlined in the annual performance report

5.1. Building standards verification fee income to cover indicative verification service costs (staff costs plus 30%).

6.1. Details of eBuilding Standards to be published prominently on the verifier’s website.

6.2. 75% of each key building warrant related process being done electronically:

• Plan checking
• Building warrant or amendments (and plans) being issued
• Verification during construction
• Completion certificates being accepted

7.1. Annual performance report published prominently on website with version control (reviewed at least quarterly).

7.2. Annual performance report to include performance data in line with KPOs and associated targets (annually covering previous year e.g. April 2023 to March 2024).

The aim of this perspective is to show that we possess the necessary professional expertise to efficiently and effectively undertake all technical aspects of building standards verification. This is achieved by on-going training and development and providing a commitment to delivering streamlined and transparent technical processes that meet our customer needs and that are compliant at all times with relevant legislation. Risk Management Protocols are in place for the allocation and processing of applications, dealing with structural design, site inspections and the acceptance or rejection of completion certificates. We will continue to develop and implement the reporting systems relative to the procedures and guidelines of the performance framework for 2023-24 and the new Operating and Performance Frameworks. In conjunction with East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway Councils, North Ayrshire Council forms part of the SWSCG.

The group meets on a regular basis to share best practice, technical guidance, benchmarking data and to facilitate training. North Ayrshire Council and the South West Scotland Consortium Group continue to be actively involved with national policy and working groups via LABSS.

The aim of this perspective is to ensure that we provide high quality standards and services to customers, underpinned by clear and transparent communications with an accurate understanding of different customer and stakeholder needs. The insights and actions taken in response to this intend to bring about continuous improvement of the customer experience, which will be regularly measured and assessed.

All relevant information to North Ayrshire Council Building Standards is available on our website including our customer charter. We are currently implementing agile working across the Service; without detriment to the current service we provide. At present our correspondence is normally via telephone, emails and letters. Face to face appointments at Cunninghame House are currently unavailable.

The aim of this perspective is to ensure that we are managing the building standards verification operations and finances in the most efficient and effective way possible; this is achieved by efficient use of funds and resources, ensuring high levels of productivity and having a fit-for-purpose infrastructure such as IT systems.

Our service has been well structured and developed over the years to provide a robust service delivery to our customers. Management systems are in place to monitor verification and non-verification budgets.

Building Standards operate an application processing system "Uniform" provided by IDOX. The system stores all our application information, it provides performance reporting facilities and letters relating to Building Warrant applications. Uniform is supported by the Council's ICT service and a dedicated System Administrator. We ensured that the appropriate procedures and systems were in place ready for the launch of eBuilding Standards. This proved to be a great success with nearly all applications and approvals now being dealt with electronically as an end to end process.

During the 2021 to 2022 financial year, 973 Building Warrant Applications and Late Completion Applications were received by North Ayrshire Council. The performance measures in relation to the verification activity as stipulated previously are shown below along with the previous two years for comparison.

The profile of the 973 building warrant applications received, based on the value of the works, is noted below along with the previous two years for comparison.

• In 2021 to 2022, 12 applications were greater than £1,000,000
• In 2020 to 2021, 23 applications were greater than £1,000,000
• In 2019 to 2020, 20 applications were greater than £1,000,000

In the previous 12 months (2021 to 2022) we:

• Utilise the existing risk management protocol and implement a system for recording the implementation on Uniform. This is complete.
• Record compliance during construction in accordance with LABSS guidance. This is ongoing.

Monitoring and reporting on the:

• Time taken to grant a building warrant including providing verifier/applicant splits.
• Times taken to issue determined domestic and non-domestic building warrants.
• Weekly performance targets for each surveyor and their workloads.
• Quarterly fee income and budgetary controls. This is ongoing.
• Re-appointment as sole Building Standards verifier for North Ayrshire Council for the maximum 6-year term. This is complete.
• Analysed results from National and Local Customer Surveys and used results to identify areas where improvements and changes to established practices could be made. This is ongoing.
• Preparation for the implementation of eBuilding Standards including participation in carrying out testing of software and hardware. Ensuring all staff were adequately trained in the processes. This is complete.
• Amalgamation of paper and electronic building warrants through scanning of completed applications and installing on back office systems. This is ongoing.

In the previous 12 months (2022 to 2023) we worked with:

• East Ayrshire Council, South Ayrshire Council and Dumfries & Galloway Council via South West Scotland Building Standards Consortium (SWSBSC)
• Scottish Fire and Rescue
• North Ayrshire Access Panel (NAAP) (Disability Issues) External Structural Engineers
• Idox
• Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS)
• Building Standards Division of the Scottish Government (BSD)

In the next 12 months (2023 to 2024) we will:

• Procure suitable hardware equipment to assist Surveyors in carrying out onsite checking of ebuilding and scanned building warrants (3 to 6 months)
• Support staff through PPD process to achieve suitable CPD and encourage and assist unqualified staff to obtain professional membership of RICS, ABE, CIOB etc. (12 months)
• Maintain our current levels of performance and continue to strive to identify areas of improvement and ensure these are implemented (12 months)
• Ensure that any critical comments from the customer satisfaction surveys are identified and acted upon timeously (12 months)
• Continue to participate in and further develop the South West Scotland Building Standards Consortium (SWSBSC) for peer reviews, technical dispute resolution, benchmarking and training (12 months)
• Continue close engagement with other local authorities and groups, e.g. Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS)
• Engage with external stakeholder organisations and groups on Building Standards issues
• Commitment to support local and national training and development/CPD
• Continue to work together with LABSS/BSD/SWSBSC on technical issues. Implement mobile working for all eBuilding Standards applications

Verifiers provide returns to Scottish Government on their verification performance and workload. The performance data relates to the building standards verification performance framework and the workload data relates to the numbers of building warrant applications; completion certificates; fees; costs; certificates (certification, energy performance; sustainability); enforcement cases.