As part of the requirements when SER was re-appointed to run the Scheme for the certification of the design of building structures in Scotland, we were required to clarify the relationship between Approved Bodies and Approved Certifiers who generate certificates for them. This means that:

  1. Approved Bodies now have improved functionality to list all Approved Certifiers who are currently generating certificates for them, which includes gaining the Approved Certifiers permission for them to be listed.
  2. Approved Certifiers now have improved functionality to list those Approved Bodies for which they generate certificates, which includes gaining the Approved Bodies permission to list them.
  3. It will be necessary for these lists to be accurate and up-to-date, as unless the relationship is defined in the relevant records, the Approved Certifier will not be able to generate certificates for that Approved Body.
  4. This will also mean that any Approved Body which does not currently have an Active Certifier listed will automatically be suspended from the Scheme until an Active Certifier is listed.

This is being introduced in two stages in order to allow Approved Certifiers to ensure they have the correct Approved Bodies listed, and Approved Bodies to ensure they have the correct Approved Certifiers listed before the limitations in points 3 and 4 are put in place.

Initially, we are asking Approved Bodies to check and confirm that the details of the Certifiers who generate certificates for them are correct. To assist the Approved Bodies with this, our web agency have added to each Approved Body record all those Approved Certifiers who have certified for the Approved Body in the past and are still members of the scheme, with a Start date taken from the first certificate they generated for the Approved Body. Approved Certifiers will see that these records have also been added to your Approved Bodies for which you certify list.

Information regarding the actions that Approved Bodies have been asked to take when reviewing this information can be found in the guidance issued to them at Relationship between Approved Bodies and Approved Certifiers - Information for Approved Bodies 

Approved Certifiers are also able to review the information and make changes themselves, but to prevent confusion we would suggest you liaise with the Certification Coordinators of the Approved Bodies for which you certify regarding this. Note that Certifiers are not able to reset the Employment Type from Unknown to the correct status – this action can only be carried out by the Approved Body.

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Locating the Approved Bodies for which you certify section

  • Log into the Account Information page on your SER account
  • Scroll down and click on the Update details bar to open it
  • Click on Update Qualifications, Employment & Membership to open it
  • Scroll down to the section Approved Bodies for which you certify 

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Responding to requests to be added as a Certifier to an Approved Body’s list

As Approved Bodies check the Certifiers that are listed for them, you may receive emails asking you to confirm that you do wish to be listed as a Certifier for that Approved Body. The request will also appear in your Outstanding Tasks under Pending employments.

  • To respond to such requests, either click on the link in the email or on the Outstanding Task in your account.
  • This will take you to the Approved Bodies for which you certify section where you will see the Approved Body listed with an Employment Status of Pending Awaiting Certifier Approval.
  • Accept or Reject the request by clicking on the appropriate button in the Actions column.
  • The Approved Body will receive an email confirming your decision when you have responded to the request.

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Notification by an Approved Body that you have been removed as a Certifier for that Approved Body

You may also receive emails from Approved Bodies saying that you have been removed as a Certifier from that Approved Body. These are likely to be in relation to previous relationships with Approved Bodies and you do not need to take any action in relation to them unless you think they are incorrect.

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Actions required by Approved Certifiers

To check the details are correct in your record, you will need to do the following:

  • Check that your Employment type is not still appearing as Unknown for any Approved Body for which you currently certify. If it is, you will need to liaise with the Certification Coordinators of the Approved Body and ask them to review this.
  • Confirm that all Approved Bodies that you are currently certifying for are present in the list, and add any who are not—see section Adding an Approved Body below
  • Check that there are no Approved Bodies appearing in the list that you no longer certify for you, and if there are, remove them from the list—see section Removing a Body from the list of Approved Bodies for which you certify below

We would suggest that you read through this guidance while looking at the relevant section, as our experience is that the process is considerably more straightforward in practice than it is to write down!

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Adding an Approved Body

  • Locate the Approved Bodies for which you certify section as above
  • Go to the Add a Body section at the end of the page
  • Enter the last four digits of the Body’s SER number in the box and click on lookup
  • If you have entered a valid number, a box will pop up headed Match found, showing the Registration Number, Body Name and Account Status for the Body
  • Below this is a box where you are prompted to add an indication of your employee type in relation to this Approved Body – this can be either Employee, Director or Contractor
    • Employee should be used if you are employed under PAYE
    • Director should be used if you are a Director/Partner/Principal of the Firm
    • Contractor applies if you are currently generating certificates for the Approved Body on a contract basis i.e. you are not either an employee or a director of the firm
  • Choose the appropriate employee type and click submit
  • You will then see a Confirm Body box asking you whether you are sure you want to add this Body, and assuming you are, you should click on Confirm.
  • You will then see that the Body has been added to your list of Bodies for which you certify with a status of Pending awaiting Body approval
  • The Body will have been sent an email informing them that you have requested permission to generate certificates for them and asking them to accept or reject the request.
  • When the Body accepts the request, you will receive an email confirming this, and the status will change to Active in your list of Bodies for which you certify. You will also appear in the list of Certifiers that can generate certificates for the Body in their account.
  • If the Body rejects the request, you will receive an email explaining this and the status will change to Rejected by Body in your list of Bodies for which you can certify

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Removing a Body from the list of those for whom you certify

You may wish to remove a Body from your list of those for whom you certify either because you are no longer certifying for them, it is a duplicate record or for some other reason.

  • Go to the Approved Bodies for which you certify section as above
  • Find the Approved Body you wish to remove from the list
  • Click the Leave button in the Actions column
  • You will then see a confirmation box asking you to confirm you wish to leave the Body
  • Click confirm if you do
  • The Certification Coordinators for the Approved Body  will receive an email informing them that you have removed the Approved Body from your account.
  • The employment status for that Approved Body in the list of those for which you certify will change to Removed. The status will also change in the list in the Approved Body’s account.

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Background

Previously, Approved Certifiers had a section in their Qualifications, Employment & Membership which asked them to list their employer if they were an SER Approved Body and Approved Bodies had a section in their Operational Details which listed Certifiers Employed by the Firm.

These sections have been expanded to provide the basis of this new functionality and now include, as well as the Approved Body number and name (in Approved Certifier records) and the Approved Certifier number and name (in Approved Body records), the following fields:

  • Employment Type
  • Employment Status
  • Employment Start date
  • Employment End Date.

In an Approved Certifier record, the following will now be seen:

In an Approved Body record, the following will now be seen:

Note that every record in an Approved Certifier list will have a corresponding record in an Approved Body list.

Employment Type can be either Employee, Director or Contractor:

  • Employee should be used if you are employed under PAYE
  • Director should be used if you are a Director/Partner/Principal of the Firm
  • Contractor applies if you are currently generating certificates for the Approved Body on a contract basis i.e. you are not either an employee or a director of the firm
  • You will also see Unknown in this column when the employment type has not been confirmed by the Approved Body

Employment Status can be:

  • Active
  • Removed
  • Pending Awaiting Certifier Approval
  • Pending Awaiting Body Approval
  • Rejected by Body
  • Rejected by Certifier

Start Date is the date that the Certifier was added as a Certifier for the Approved Body

End Date is the date that the Certifier was removed as a Certifier for the Approved Body

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