SER - Building Control Organisations
The answers to this questionnaire will be treated in confidence but will be collated with those from others in order to obtain an overall picture which may be passed to others. The information and any views given in this response will not be passed on to any other party in any form that will enable identification of the respondent. Respondents will be asked for their name, organisation and contact information.
Structural Engineers Registration Ltd (SER) has been appointed by the Scottish government to operate a scheme for the certification of structural design in Scotland. SER is responsible for appointing and monitoring Approved Certifiers and their employing Approved Bodies. Approved Certifiers are licensed to certify the structural design of a building complies with the relevant standards which are broadly similar to the requirements of Part A of the Building Regulations for England and Wales. In all but the simplest of structures the duties involved in Certification are carried out independently of the design, often referred to as third party certification.
In the following questionnaire SER is seeking to establish current working practice regarding approval of designs to Part A of the Building Regulations in England and Wales.
SER is seeking responses from individuals responsible for checking Building Regulation submissions on their personal experience of how the system works. The questions are specifically aimed at the part of those submissions that come under Part A of the Regulations, relating to structural safety. If you are not directly involved in dealing with, or making decisions regarding, such submissions please pass the link onto colleagues and others who do. We welcome responses from all who are involved.
In this questionnaire the term structural design covers all those elements of the building which can affect the safety of occupants and users, not just the structural frame and foundations.