Advice - Building Warrant: Schedule 1 & The Form Q Process
There is some confusion surrounding the SER process, a lot of which relates to Schedule 1 items within an SER Certificate and the Form Q.
In brief, when McGregor McMahon complete an SER Design Certificate, any specialist contractor-designed elements that remain outstanding are listed on Schedule 1 of the SER Design Certificate.
There are prescriptive lists of what is allowed to be considered a Schedule 1 item. Each of these lists is determined by the nature and extent of the project.
In most domestic cases, these are items that are normally procured after a Warrant has been issued, such as prefabricated timber roof trusses or large glazing units.
In order to close out the outstanding design elements, a Notification of Finalisation of Design Details (also known as a Form Q) must be raised by McGregor McMahon. However this can only be done upon receipt of the design calculations from the specialist contractor.
Below is a brief summary of the Schedule 1 and Form Q Process:
- Step 1:Â Building Warrant Application. The Certifier issues a design certificate for the building or stage accompanied by a Schedule 1 listing details to be designed later, but which are described in the application by performance specification(s).
- Step 2:Â Building Control (the Verifier) provides Building Warrant Approval. The warrant documentation contains confirmation that a Form Q is required.
- Step 3:Â The Client appoints a specialist contractor to undertake the Schedule 1 works whilst other work included within warrant commences on site.
- Step 4:Â The specialist contractor supplies McGregor McMahon with the design for elements included in Schedule 1. As Certifiers, McGregor McMahon check the contractor designed element for compliance with the performance specification(s) and for consistency with the overall design. Any divergence from this would require an Amendment to Warrant, which requires a further application and is normally handled by the architect.
- Step 5:Â If McGregor McMahon approves the specialist design, we will return a signed notification (Form Q) to the Verifier. The notification is countersigned by McGregor McMahon as Coordinator of the Approved Body.
- Step 6:Â Prior to issuing a completion certificate, the Verifier will check that a Form Q has been returned relating to any details previously listed in the Schedule 1 for that Warrant.