Edinburgh Chartered Architects Network

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What consents are required

Contrary to what is often suggested by the media DIY celebrities, the process of preparing for an apparently simple building extension or alteration is more than simply getting a local builder to call in and start work on the various walls, floors and ceilings that you want to remove. Cracks can appear, walls can collapse, damp can rise, rain can penetrate, or worse. Individuals you employ who pass themselves off as tradesmen can subsequently emerge to have no qualifications other than creative use of expletives when called to account for shoddy workmanship.

As a do-it-yourself activity, preparing for and managing your own construction project can be a complex and time consuming exercise. Fraught with uncertainties, the unsuspecting and well meaning self-builder can find him/herself caught up with spiralling costs, disappeared contractors, wildly delayed construction programmes, and a wet and cold winter arriving months before it should. Employing an architect will help avoid the stress and inevitable crises that arise from taking on such a task. This applies not just to new build and alterations projects, but also to simple projects of repair and maintenance.

In Scotland, with the exception of all but a small number of cases, a building warrant is required where a building is being altered or a new building is to be erected. In most situations, planning permission, listed building consent, change or use, or other planning permissions must be sought and obtained. At an early stage, your architect will establish the basic requirements for the type of project in hand, and will obtain information from the local authority or from the published regulations, to establish the regulations framework within which the design work must proceed.