Building (Scotland) Act 1959

10 Powers in relation to buildings constructed without warrant or in contravention of conditions of warrant, and buildings whose life has expired

(1) If it appears to the master of works that any building of a class to which the building standards regulations apply—

(a) has been or is being constructed without a warrant in respect of the construction having been obtained, or in contravention of the conditions on which a warrant was obtained, or

(b) remains in existence after the expiration of any period limited for it by the conditions on which the warrant for its construction was obtained,

he may serve upon—

(i) the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the building has been or is being constructed, or

(ii) if that person no longer has an interest in the building any other person who at the material time is entitled to the interest in the building which that person formerly had, or, if at the material time there is no such other person, the owner of the building,

a notice requiring him within such period as may be specified in the notice, being a period of not less .than twenty-one days from the service of the notice, to show cause to the buildings authority why he should not be required to execute such operations as may be specified in the notice, being operations for the removal of the building or operations necessary to make the building conform to the building standards regulations ; and if the person upon whom the notice has been served fails to show cause as aforesaid to the satisfaction of the buildings authority they may order him within such period as may be specified in the order, being a period of not less than twenty-eight days from the date when the order becomes operative, to execute the operations aforesaid or such other operations for the same purpose as may be specified in the order.

(2) Subject to the provisions of section seventeen of this Act, if on the expiration of the period specified in the order mentioned in the foregoing subsection the person against whom the order has been made has not complied therewith, he shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and the buildings authority may authorise the local authority to execute the operations which the said person has failed to execute; and the local authority shall thereupon be entitled to act accordingly and any expenses thereby incurred by them shall be recoverable from the said person as a debt.

(3) The provisions of the Sixth Schedule to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of securing the recovery by a local authority of any expenses recoverable by them under the last foregoing subsection from any person, if that person is the owner of the building.

(4) An order served under subsection (1) of this section shall become operative only in accordance with subsection (4) of section sixteen of this Act.

(5) A master of works may include in a notice served by him under subsection (1) of this section in respect of a building which is being constructed a requirement that the person on whom the notice is served shall cause the work thereon to be suspended until the matters raised in the notice have been determined, or until the expiration of the period of one month from the date of service of the notice, whichever first occurs.

(6) References in this section to the period limited for a building by the conditions on which the warrant for its construction was obtained are references to that period together with any extension thereof authorised by virtue of subsection (5) of section six of this Act.

(7) This section shall apply in relation to a part of a building, being a fixture the fitting of which is excluded from the operation of subsection (1) of section six of this Act by virtue of the proviso thereto, which—

(a) has been fitted, and

(b) either in itself or in the manner of its fitting fails to conform to the building standards regulations,

as it applies to a building which has been constructed as mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section.

(8) For avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that, in respect of any building, this section applies to any such deviation as is mentioned in subsection (7) of section six of this Act as it applies to the construction of the building.