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SER's Audit Procedures have been revised with the agreement of the Scottish Government's Building Standards Division to incorporate learning from the remote monitoring process as well as to allow for on-going restrictions and changes to ways of working resulting from the pandemic. In addition, a full review of the procedures and appendices has been undertaken to incorporate feedback and resulting changes required since the last version was published in 2016.

When we advised you of the changes resulting from SER's re-appointment as a Scheme Provider we noted that there was considerable focus on the role of Approved Bodies during that process and that as part of this Approved Bodies will now be required to upload copies of their PI insurance certificate and Complaints Procedure to their records on the SER website.

We have made changes to the functionality which defines the relationship between Approved Bodies and the Approved Certifiers who generate certificates for them. This article provides guidance for Approved Bodies.

We have made changes to the functionality which defines the relationship between Approved Bodies and the Approved Certifiers who generate certificates for them. This article provides guidance for Approved Certifiers.

How to sign certificates electronically

It has come to our attention during the process of reviewing reports of recent remote monitoring sessions that the certification of the design of protective barriers is frequently failing to meet the scheme requirements. Approved Certifiers are reminded that they are required to satisfy themselves that adequate details of any pedestrian or vehicle barriers have been prepared and that there are sufficient calculations or other justification to demonstrate their design.

Our favourite blogs to write are always the ones in which we are able to inform you of changes we have made that we believe will make your lives (well, your lives as Certifiers or Certification Coordinators, anyway) significantly easier. That is certainly the case this week!

Our favourite blogs to write are always the ones in which we are able to inform you of changes we have made that we believe will make your lives (well, your lives as Certifiers or Certification Coordinators, anyway) significantly easier. That is certainly the case this week!

We don't want anyone reading the title of this blog to think that we don't enjoy our interactions with SER Scheme members. Additionally, we would always recommend that you contact us if you are unsure of anything. It's just that a fairly hefty proportion of the calls and emails we receive relate to processes that the enquirer did not realise they could solve themselves, rather than having to wait for us to call them back because we were busy dealing with another query.

This blog also looks at processes you may not be aware you can do yourself, concentrating on changing contact, employer and employee details. We will readily accept that it's not the most thrilling stuff you will ever read, but familiarising yourself with these practices will hopefully save you time and effort in the future.