Historic Scotland - Looking after our heritage - Scheduled monument consent guidance for applicants

Guidance for Applicants

A wide range of works require scheduled monument consent – ranging from straight forward activities such as the replacement of fences, to the re-erection of standing stones, major consolidation schemes and archaeological excavation.

Determining applications

The scheduled monument consent process normally takes a maximum of 9 weeks from start to finish. The application is first validated to check that sufficient information is included and an acknowledgement issued.

Where all the necessary information is included in the application, and the works are acceptable, consent may be granted without conditions. This will usually be done within 5 weeks of receipt of the application.

It is sometimes necessary to apply conditions to consent. In these circumstances, a provisional view on the application is normally issued within 5 weeks of receipt. If the applicant is content with the conditions, a final view is then issued within a further 4 weeks.

Refusal of applications

If the provisional view on the application is a refusal of consent, the applicant can either accept this provisional view within 28 days or make further representations. If agreement cannot be reached, Scottish Ministers will decide the most suitable means of determining the application. This may take the form of written submissions, a hearing or a public local inquiry.

Historic Scotland can refuse to entertain applications for scheduled monument consent where a similar application has been refused in the previous two years and there has been no significant change in any material considerations since the similar application was refused.

SMC Fast-track

Consent for some minor works can be issued through a fast track process within 2 weeks. For fast track applications the applicant must submit letter(s) from all owners of the monument confirming they are content with the works proposed.

Scheduled Monument Process Flow Chart

Related Documents

Scheduled Monument Consent Application Forms and Guidance

eApplication Forms