Apply for a building warrant
eDevelopment unavailable
from 7 December 2026
The service is moving to a new cloud-hosted platform and will be unavailable for up to one week.
This work will ensure the continued operation of the service on a secure and resilient platform.
If you are planning to make a submission through eDevelopment, please consider the following options.
Planning and most Building Standards applications
1. Submit before 7 December
If your application is ready for submission, we strongly encourage you to submit it before the planned downtime begins.
2. Wait where possible
If your submission is not time-sensitive, please consider waiting until the service has been restored.
3. Use alternative arrangements only where necessary
These arrangements are intended only for genuinely time-critical submissions, such as appeals and some building standards applications, and should not be viewed as an alternative route for routine submissions during the outage period.
If you cannot submit before the outage and cannot reasonably wait until the service becomes available again, downloadable forms will be available on gov.scot and can be submitted directly to the relevant authority by email.
Please be aware that authorities may apply limits to the size of email attachments they can receive. If your submission includes large files, please check local arrangements and be prepared to send documents across multiple emails where necessary.
Appeals and Building Standards time-sensitive submissions
Appeals and some building standards submissions are subject to statutory, operational or contractual timescales.
If your deadline falls within the downtime period, you should:
- Submit before the outage period wherever possible.
- Wait until the service has resumed. However, do not delay your submission if doing so will result in a statutory deadline being missed.
- Alternative submission arrangements will be available if your deadline falls during the outage period.
Further guidance covering these submissions will be issued shortly.
Further information
An eDevelopment landing page will remain available throughout the downtime period and will continue to provide updates and guidance.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we undertake this essential work to support the future operation of eDevelopment.
If you have questions regarding the planned downtime or alternative arrangements, please contact eDevOps@gov.scot.
A building warrant is the legal permission to start building work, or to convert or demolish a building.
If you are doing building work or home improvements, follow these 4 steps:
- Find out if the work you propose requires a building warrant.
- If a building warrant is required, decide who will make the application: you or an agent acting on your behalf.
- Get plans and a specification prepared for the proposed work.
- Submit a building warrant application and fee.
We offer an outreach service for customers who may have difficulties reaching our offices.
Is a building warrant the same as planning permission?
No, building warrant and planning permission are two entirely separate permissions. In many cases, both building warrant and planning permission are needed.
Midlothian Council Planning Section can give guidance on planning permission.