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Newsletter No 7 - July 2007

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Overview

This Newsletter is about the quality of submissions for Building Regulations checking and the views of Building Control officers. Key points from two long and detailed reports are:

• many submissions demonstrate inadequate understanding of basic structural issues
• poor co-ordination between designers, sub-contractors, and suppliers
• quality and standards have dropped
• Local Authority Building Control departments are under increasing
• there may be conflicts between the role of Approved Inspectors and Local Authorities
• risk analysis is being used as a way of deciding what should be checked
• submissions to Local Authority checking must not be a substitute for proper professional design and in house checking.

The Building Regulations in England and Wales are the responsibility of Communities and Local Government (CLG) who are currently considering the future of Building Control (The Future of Building Control - Communities and Local Government). Later this year there will be a consultation process and the views of engineers dealing with Building Control matters from all perspectives will be sought. This is an important development upon which safety issues, and the protection of the public, depend. Participation will give valuable feedback and influence change and  details of the consultation will be given in a future Newsletter. As usual CROSS will welcome more confidential reports on these and other matters of concern.

Reports, which are in normal text below, are as written by reporters but edited to remove identification and sometimes to give clarification. The views of reporters are not changed. Comments in italics after each report are those from a panel of experts appointed by SCOSS (the Standing Committee on Structural Safety).

Overview of Reports in this Newsletter

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