Non-residential Construction DPS

A wide range of non-residential buildings. For social landlords that’s typically community centres, offices and temporary accommodation. Councils and other public bodies can also use it for schools, further education buildings, health centres, libraries, leisure centres, and police, fire and ambulance stations.

It depends on the site, the design and how quickly you need the building. Modular construction suits projects where time on site and disruption need to be kept to a minimum, such as work next to occupied homes or a school that stays open. Traditional construction gives you more flexibility on complex sites or bespoke designs, and refurbishment makes the most of a building you already have. If you’re not sure, we can help you weigh up the options when we design your solution with you.

Under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, the relevant person, usually the building owner or developer, must submit a completion certificate once the work is finished. It’s an offence to occupy a new building, conversion or extension until the local authority verifier has accepted it, and new non-domestic buildings also need a fire safety design summary with the completion certificate. Build warrant timescales into your programme and set out in your mini-competition what you expect the contractor to handle.

It might. Scotland’s Compliance Plan Approach targets high risk buildings, which include educational, community and sports buildings, non-domestic public buildings under local authority control, hospitals and residential care buildings. It’s being phased in through guidance ahead of legislation, so check with your local authority verifier early and make the contractor’s role in the compliance plan clear in your tender.

Since 1 April 2024, the New Build Heat Standard has prevented new buildings, including non-domestic buildings, from using direct emissions heating systems such as gas or oil boilers. Following amendments to the standard, bioenergy and peat systems are permitted, as is secondary heating. Make your heating requirements clear in your specification so contractors price the right solution.

Yes, and the mini-competition is the place to do it. Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, public bodies must consider whether it’s relevant and proportionate to include Fair Work First criteria, including payment of the real Living Wage, and must consider community benefit requirements for larger contracts. We can help you set requirements that suit the project and the community it serves.

Yes. Contractors on the DPS act as turnkey principal contractors, so in most cases you can appoint one firm to take your project from design through to handover. That gives you a single point of responsibility, which is often simpler for teams without in-house design capacity.

How much design the contractor takes on depends on the build method. Modular contractors design and manufacture the building offsite, then install it. On refurbishment projects, the contractor can manage the design, planning and delivery of the work. For traditional construction, you can ask the contractor to design and build, or appoint your own architect and design team and ask the contractor to build to your design [confirm both options are available].

The choice affects how much control you keep over the finished building and where the design risk sits. If you appoint your own design team, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting but take on more coordination. If the contractor leads, you’ll need a clear brief and output specification so their design meets your needs.

Either way, make design responsibilities clear in your mini-competition, including who prepares the drawings for the building warrant and who deals with the verifier. We can help you decide on the right approach and write the brief as part of designing your solution.