3.4.15 The Inquiry formed the view that there was a common misconception, even among some Council officers, as to the extent of the reliance that can be placed on the quality of construction of a building because it had successfully gone through the statutory Buildings Standards process.
3.4.16 The resource available within the Building Standards section of the Council tended to be focused on the approval of warrant drawings but with limited effective follow up in terms of checking the compliance to the same level of detail of what was actually built on site with what was shown on the approved drawings.
3.4.17 The issue of a limited resource of qualified staff within the Buildings Standards Department was raised with the Inquiry on several occasions in terms of how this translated into a limited allocation of time for inspections of the quality and compliance of the construction of projects on site. From the information and evidence of witnesses provided to the Inquiry, it was clear that a preponderance of those visits made to the school sites related to checks on drainage rather than to the compliance of other aspects of the construction.
3.4.18 The Inquiry was informed that the issues of lack of embedment of wall ties or the failure to include head restraints in walls were not areas that would normally be inspected on visits to site by the Council's building inspectors. It was the view of the Inquiry that it was not reasonable to expect the level and frequency of inspection visits by Building Control required to identify failures of this type on such large buildings from the visits of building inspectors.
3.4.19 If the inspections undertaken by the Independent Certifier are also not at this level, then this represents a gap in the level of assurance provided to the public sector client, unless a separate resource is put in place to undertake this level of scrutiny on behalf of the client.
3.4.20 The responsibility to ensure the compliance of the building with the required standards lies with the builder who should have in place proper inspection of the works, however by definition such self-managed inspections cannot be independent of the builder.
3.4.21 In relation to the submission, processing and certification of the schools in compliance with the Building Standards system in Scotland, the information, which was provided to the Inquiry by the Building Standards Department, raised concerns as to the appropriate application of the statutory requirements.
3.4.22 The analysis of this information suggests that issues of non-compliance, each occurring in the case of several schools, included: failures to submit notifications of intention to start work; starting work without approved warrants; failures to submit requests for amended warrants; and occupying schools in advance of the issue of a temporary occupation or completion certificate.
3.4.23 Two of the Phase 1 schools, Craigmount High School and Royal High School, have never received approved completion certificates. In the case of a third school, Gracemount High school, the Certificate of Completion was applied for on 18th May 2010 and issued by Building Standards on 7th June 2010, some seven years after the school was occupied.
3.4.24 It should be noted that to occupy a new building without the issue of a Completion Certificate is a breach of both the original Building (Scotland) Act 1959 and the amended Building (Scotland) Act 2003.
3.4.25 The Inquiry had a further concern in relation to this issue. Completed Certificates of Availability signed by the Independent Certifier, as well as certifying that a school was available for occupation and that Council payments for that school were due from that date, were also required to confirm that all Building Standards certificates had been issued. From an analysis of the information available to the Inquiry, it would appear that some of these certificates in fact predated the issue of Temporary Occupancy Certificates or Completion Certificates by Building Standards. It is, however, recognised that in a number of cases the required certificates were issued shortly thereafter.