Information for cases when a change of SER Approved Body/Approved Certifier is required during a project

Including situations when a client has contracted for certification services but has not received them

There are a variety of circumstances where the original SER Approved Body and/or Approved Certifier is no longer available, but certification services are still required in respect of a project. These may include provision of a Form Q, a certificate for an amendment or further stage(s) of a project or a review of changes to the project by an Approved Certifier to determine the actions required in accordance with paragraph 2.2 of Building Standards Procedural Guidance on Certification (the “Blue Book”).

Building Standards Procedural Guidance on Certification is a Scottish Government Building Standards publication and Structural Engineers Registration Ltd (SER) is not able to vary any of the requirements contained within. Note in particular that this applies to the requirements in paragraph 2.2 concerning reviews of changes to the project by an Approved Certifier to determine the actions required.

Paragraph 2.8 of the Building Standards Procedural Guidance on Certification provides general guidance on how a change of Approved Body/Approved Certifier during a project should be dealt with. The following provides more detail on particular situations:

Background

  1. A Client cannot employ an Approved Certifier directly but must enter into a contract with an Approved Body who will appoint one of their registered Approved Certifiers to the project. This ensures that the Client has a contract with an organisation that is required by the certification scheme to hold appropriate professional indemnity (‘PI’) insurance. This means that a Certifier who is no longer employed by that Approved Body will not be able to assist with further certification requirements for the project.
  2. SER is appointed by the Scottish Government to administer the Scheme for the certification of design of building structures. SER does not provide certification services itself. In addition, SER is not party to contracts between clients and Approved Bodies.
  3. Certificates are signed and issued by the Approved Certifier and Approved Body and are therefore their responsibility and can only be issued by those parties. Thus, SER is not able to issue certificates on behalf of Approved Bodies from their records.

Change of Approved Certifier only

  1. If the original Certifier is not available but the Approved Body is still in existence and has other Approved Certifiers, the situation is usually straightforward to resolve in that the Approved Body can appoint another Approved Certifier to carry out the required actions. SER will then, on request, transfer project access to that Certifier within the Approved Body in accordance with SER Guidance Note 13. The incoming Certifier must consider their obligations as laid out in the Guidance Note when taking over the project and the Local Authority Verifier must be informed of the change.

Change of Approved Body and Approved Certifier

  1. When the original Approved Body, with which the client has contracted to provide certification services, is no longer available or if a firm which is not registered as an Approved Body but has been offering certification services to its clients by contracting with another Approved Body to provide them is no longer available, resolving the situation is more complex. Generally, when there is a planned withdrawal from the Scheme, arrangements will have been made to complete SER certified projects and/or handover responsibility to another firm. However, when an Approved Body is suddenly no longer available, such arrangements will not exist.
  1. In any circumstances where the original Approved Body is no longer available, any of the following are required and the client has not previously been made aware of arrangements for continued certification of the project:

    • a certificate for a further stage or for an amendment to warrant, or
    • a review of changes to the project by an Approved Certifier to determine the required action in accordance with paragraph 2.2 of the Building Standards Procedural Guidance on Certification, or
    • a Form Q to sign off items listed on Schedule 1 of a certificate i.e. Contractor Designed Portions (CDPs),
  • the client will need to engage with another Approved Body to provide those certification services. SER is not able to recommend any particular replacement Approved Body or to require an Approved Body to take over the certification of a project, instead, the Scottish Government Building Standards Division Certification Register can be used to identify a suitable Approved Body.
  1. SER Guidance Note 13 provides information about the process to be followed by SER Approved Bodies and Approved Certifiers when there is a change of Approved Body and/or Approved Certifier during a project. The Local Authority Verifier must also be informed when there is a change.
  2. In the circumstances that a firm which is not registered as an Approved Body but has been offering certification services to its clients by contracting with another Approved Body, SER will not have a record of the identity of the Approved Body/Certifier that has been contracted to provide those services. However, if the Approved Body/Certifier was declared in the application for warrant, the Local Authority Verifier should have a record of this. For some Local Authorities this information will be available in the online public register, while in others the client, as an “interested party”, will be able to request it from the Verifier. SER does not fall within the definition of “interested party” so is not able to obtain the information from the Verifier. Similarly, if it is a further certificate or Form Q for a project that is required and the client is not aware of the identity of the Approved Body who originally certified the project, the Local Authority Verifier should have a record of this.

SER, with input from SBSH and BSD, July 2025