Design and vesting of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems

Following concerns raised by housing associations and developers, the SFHA, Homes for Scotland and Scottish Water have been working together with the aim of improving joint work on new build developments.

This work has included a revised process and procedure for vesting of water assets and work by Scottish Water to vest the backlog of legacy projects.

The latest piece of work seeks to ease arrangements for the design and vesting of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).

Scottish Water’s Sewers for Scotland 4 (and all previous editions) allows for a design waiver to be requested for any asset standard including SUDS. The requestor should include justification why the change is necessary and an evaluation of any future impact it may have on Scottish Water for future ownership/maintenance. These details will be assessed by Scottish Water before making a decision. A design waiver can be submitted by the developer or anyone appointed to act on their behalf preferably during early consultations with Scottish Water and prior to construction. Page 4 of Sewers for Scotland 4 provides details of how to provide technical feedback via design waivers (see extract below) and this process is already familiar to design consultants for other asset types (pumping stations).

Extract:

“Feedback Arrangements: Technical enquiries should be referred to Scottish Water Technical Standards Team, Buchanan Gate Business Park, Cumbernauld Road, Stepps, G33 6FB. Email – standardsinfoline@scottishwater.co.uk ”

Sewers for Scotland 4 is freely available to download from the following link to Scottish Water’s website