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THE GOVERNMENT has launched a major review of the building control system in England and Wales, with the publication of a new paper setting out its vision for how the system can be improved.
The Future for Building Control outlines a package of options and invites interested parties to suggest how reform should proceed. It will be followed up by a formal consultation document, expected later this year.
The paper has been developed following detailed discussions with industry, which highlighted various shortcomings with the current system, including the lack of a clear future vision for building control, the current piecemeal approach to regulatory change and the complexity of guidance.
Ideas put forward in the paper include:
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providing greater enforce-ment powers for local authorities to tackle persistent offenders
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providing simple customer-focused guidance that helps with specific building work or types of problems
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formulating options for making sure that building control bodies are properly resourced in the future
Commenting on the move, Michael Finn, chairman of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee, said: ‘The present system of Building Regulation has served us well, but more complex construction techniques and the need to achieve greater energy efficiency mean we need to take a hard look at ways of improving and simplifying the technical guidance and setting milestones for future step changes.’
The Future for Building Control and a supporting document, Achieving Building Standards, are available via the ‘Planning, building and the environment’ section of: www.communities.gov.uk.
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