Clackmannanshire Council Online

Building Standards Non-Statutory Services

Building Standards Non-Statutory Services

Copy Documents

This discretionary/non statutory service is currently suspended with the exception of the provision of building warrants and/or completion certificates required for house sales.  There are no current plans to re-introduce the full copy drawings/plans service. 

The Council is frequently asked to produce copies of building warrants, approved plans and/or completion certificates, usually in relation to  the sale or purchase of a property. Under building regulations, these documents are restricted to interested parties who consist of current/prospective owners/tenants or current/prospective owners/tenants of a physically adjoining property.  We require written confirmation of this status before any documents are released.  If you are a legal representative working on behalf of an interested party then written confirmation is required that you are legally acting on behalf of that party. 

Files and supporting documents in Part II of the public register are generally retained for a period of 25 years (please see the our Public Registers page for certain exemptions).  As such, this service is restricted to a rolling 25 year period.

There is no timescale for this discretionary non statutory service although we would aim to provide copy documents within 20 working days from receipt of payment, which is in line with our statutory response times.  All documentation will be provided in electronic format via email.

The fee will depend on the age, number and size of the documents requested and fees are listed on the fee scale page linked below.

If you require any further information or an application form for any of the above services, please call 01259 452540 in the first instance

Letters of Comfort 

The following non-statutory services are offered by the Building Standards Team. Please note, however, that unlike our statutory work, we do not offer any timescale for the handling of these applications and this should be taken into account before submitting any of the  applications below. If you require any further details, please use the contact details below in the first instance.

A brief description of these services are:

Letters of Comfort

The term "Letter of Comfort" has been adopted by the legal profession when referring to a letter providing confirmation from a Local Authority that the works undertaken comply with the relevant Technical Standards and/or no enforcement action will take place.

The issue of a Letter of Comfort will be considered where:

• works have been undertaken (prior to 1st May 2005) without Building Warrant approval; or
• a Certificate of Completion has not been granted/obtained within the liftime of the relevant Building Warrant 

These are known as "Property Inspections" and "Confirmation of Completion" respectively and are explained in more detail below.

Property Inspection

The Building Standards Team often finds itself requested to assist owners who are having difficulty selling their property due to unauthorised alterations having been carried out, often by previous owners.

Although it is a statutory requirement that a Building Warrant is granted prior to any building work being undertaken, a Property Inspection can cover unauthorised works started and completed between the period 1 April 1991 to 1st May 2005. It is important to point out, however, that a Property Inspection is not a Building Warrant, Completion Certificate or retrospective permission and provides only limited assurance that a property complies with the relevant regulations. It is important that prospective purchasers of houses are aware of these limitations.

No property inspection applications will be accepted for works prior to 1 April 1991

Confirmation of Completion

A Certificate of Completion can only be issued/accepted within the lifetime of your Building Warrant, which is normally 3 years unless an extension has been formally approved. If no Completion Certificate has been issued during this period, and you wish the matter regularised, then you may apply for Confirmation of Completion.  This service is normally restricted to the 25 year rolling period noted above.

Acceptance of Letters of Comfort

The issue of a Letter of Comfort by the Local Authority normally satisfies parties involved in conveyance and mortgage transactions. Due to the limitations noted above, however, you should always check this with your solicitor before applying for a Letter of Comfort.

How Do I Apply for a Letter of Comfort?

There are individual application forms for all the services listed in this section and these can be obtained by contacting the Building Standards email address below.

Is there a fee for a Letter of Comfort?

A fee is payable when lodging your application in order to offset the cost of assessing the application, undertaking site visits, carrying out a search of records, preparation and issue of the letter etc. Only debit/credit card payments are acceptable for non statutory fees and payment can be made either via our website or by telephoning our contact centre. You can view the current fee scales by following the link provided.

Are Detailed Drawings Required?

For Property Inspections it may be necessary to provide drawings to allow assessment to take place. For complex works, however, detailed drawings to Building Warrant approval standard are required to allow for structural checks, calculations etc to be carried out.

For Confirmation of Completion, a record of the Building Warrant approval will already be held and this will be used in the assessment of the works carried out.