Property Certification

Understanding evidence of Council permissions for planning and building standards 

This information is now stored on the relevant Council's website. That website is not a convenient reference point but is actually the statutory manifestation of the council's requirements to list information available for the public. 

Building Warrants and Completion Certificates 

The law is clear on Completion Certificates and while solicitors are traditionally drawn to pieces of paper as being comforting, the electronic confirmation is in fact far superior and is the actual manifestation of the statutory process. 

Section 24 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 requires local authorities to keep a Building Standards Register for the geographical area of the authority. 

Section 24(1)(C) covers that completion certificates fall within the Building Standards Register. Further regulations by the Scottish Government including the 2019 Building Standard regulations enshrined that these should be maintained online for public access. 

As an example, the provision of a Completion Certificate is a process. While many are used to the form of the Completion Certificate used for decades, the Building Standards Register (in its earlier paper format and now electronic) is in fact definitive evidence. 

The Local Authority website is in fact the manifestation of the Building Standards Register in terms of the 2003 legislation. All the relevant sections of Council websites make their statutory function clear. 

Our advice is to take a screenshot of the relevant page so that you have evidence along with the URL. If you wish a paper completion certificate, then you can obtain this directly from the Council though it may take a little time and involve an administrative fee. 

Planning Permission and Listed Building Consents 

Planning Permissions are also available from the Council website. In the case of planning permissions most Council websites maintain the documents relating to permission applications from 2005-10 onwards. 

Take up was different between Councils so there is no fixed date. 

While most Councils now use a uniform system there are some that have slightly different systems. 

Similarly, Listed Building Consents are deemed to be an adjunct to the planning permission process fall within the local authority function which is again stored on their website provided that the information occurred after the "go live" date for the website. 

Generally, the Listed Building Consent is stored as a separate entry from that pertaining to the planning permission but not always.