Building Standards
Building Standards
Building standards are concerned with whether buildings are structurally sound and functional. For matters such as what buildings look like, and what kind of buildings can be constructed in a particular location, see the Knowledge Base entry on Planning and Development Control. Building standards have been a local authority responsibility since the medieval period and therefore the records of this function are usually found in local authority archives services.
Building control in burghs before 1975
Building control (re-named building standards in 2003) began in burghs where people lived closely together. Royal burghs took the lead, giving these responsibilities to the dean of guild courts and during the 19th century other burghs set up dean of guild courts with similar building control responsibilities. These became the building control authorities in burghs until the burghs were abolished in 1975.
From an early period the Edinburgh Dean of Guild Court started to hear cases of offences against “nychtburheid” or neighbourhood disputes and from 1593 this practice was adopted by other dean of guild courts.[1] Gradually this became more focused on building issues and complaints, such as building an extension which intruded into a neighbour’s property or allowing a ruinous wall to collapse into a neighbour’s yard or blocking up the entry to a neighbour’s close with a midden.[2] The next development was an attempt to pre-empt disputes by requiring the permission of the dean of guild court before constructing any new building or carrying out major alterations to existing buildings. By the mid-17th century, the Edinburgh Dean of Guild Court began to insist the submission of a plan for approval before building and building control powers developed from this.[3]
Until 1862 only royal burghs with existing dean of guild courts had these building control powers. From 1862 magistrates of towns which adopted the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 were given the same powers as dean of guild courts.[4] From 1892 all town councils were permitted to set up dean of guild courts.[5] In 1947 burghs were required to set up a dean of guild court if they did not already have one.[6]
The Building (Scotland) Act 1959 was the first comprehensive legislation to deal with building control and under this the dean of guild courts became building authorities.[7] The name dean of guild court remained in use until local government reorganisation in 1975.[8]
Building control outwith burghs before 1975
Outwith burghs, there was no specific building control function until building control powers were given to local authorities under the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897.[9] This enabled districts of counties to make byelaws to regulate buildings, subject to the approval of the county council and the Board of Supervision. These byelaws were expected to cover the submission of plans for inspection by the local authority. The other local authorities defined by this Act (county councils, police commissioners and town councils) already had the authority to make byelaws but their powers to do this for building control purposes became subject to the Board of Supervision.[10]
In 1929 the building control function in respect of districts and small burghs was transferred to county councils.[11] In 1959 building authorities in the landward areas of counties were defined as a committee of not less than three from the local authority (i.e.: the county council).[12]
Building control/standards after 1975
From 1975, at local government re-organisation, the functions of all building authorities in the former burghs and the former counties were transferred to district councils and islands councils except in Highland, Borders and Dumfries & Galloway regions where these functions were transferred to the regional councils.[13] In 1996 they transferred to the new unitary councils and in 2003 the term building standards replaced building control.[14]
Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
Dean of Guild Court
Planning and Development Control
Building Standards records
Bibliography
Close, Rob, ‘Planning and Building Records’ Scottish Local History 39 (1997) pp. 16-20
Gray, Iain, ‘Dean of Guild court Records: a unique resource for Scottish Urban History’ Scottish Archives 5 (1999) pp. 41-48
Gray, Iain, A Guide to Dean of Guild Records (Scottish Survey of Architectural Practices, 1994) [note that the locations listed in this Guide are out of date]
Jackson, Andrew M., Glasgow Dean of Guild Court: A History (Glasgow 1983)
McKechnie, John ‘Buildings and Dean of Guild’ in Source book and history of administrative law in Scotland ed. by M.R. McLarty (Hodge, 1956), pp. 95-104
Smith, Annette M., The Guildry of Dundee (Abertay Historical Society, 2005)
Warden, A. J., Burgh Laws of Dundee (Longmans, Green & Co, 1872)
References
[1] Andrew M. Jackson Glasgow Dean of Guild Court: A History (Glasgow, 1983) p.12.
[2] Act anent the reparation of ruinous houses within burghs, 1644. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1644/6/265 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1644/6/265> [accessed 16 December 2018].
[3] Iain Gray A Guide to Dean of Guild Court Records (Scottish Survey of Architectural Practices, 1994) pp.3-4.
[4] General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.101) s.408.
[5] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) ss.201-209.
[6] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) ss.321-331.
[7] Building (Scotland) Act 1959 (c.24) s.1(2).
[8] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.227.
[9] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c.38) s.181.
[10] Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c.38) ss.183-189.
[11] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.2; Sch.1(1)9.
[12] Building (Scotland) Act 1959 (c.24) s.1(3).
[13] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.134, s.227.
[14] Building (Scotland) Act 2003 (2003 asp 8).