Building control in five European countries

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BUILDING CONTROL IN

FIVE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Henk Visscher

H0USING AND URBAN POLICY STUDIES

7

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BUILDING CONTROL IN FIVE EUROPEAN

COUNTRIES

Bibliotheek TU Delft

" 111111111

C 2083721

i

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HOUSING AND URBAN POLICY STUDIES

7

OTB Research Institute for Policy Sciences and Technology Delft University of Technology

Thijsseweg 11, 2629 JA Delft, The Netherlands, tel 015-783005 Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, Directorate-General of Housing

P.O. Box 30941 2500 GX The Hague The N etherlands tel.:

+

31 70 3393939

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BUILDING CONTROL IN FIVE EUROPEAN

COUNTRIES

Henk Vzsscher

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Housing and Urbail Policy Studies are published by: Delft University Press

Stevinweg 1 2628 CN Delft The Netherlands tel. (015) 783254

Editors: Hugo Priemus, Johan Conijn, Jacques van der Jagt. Translation: T.S. Preston

CIP-DATA KONINKLIJKE BIBUOTHEEK, DEN HAAG Visscher, Henk

Building control in five European countries / Henk Visscher. - Delft: Delft University Press. 111. (Housing and urban policy studies, ISSN 09266240 ; 7) -Met lito opg.

ISBN 90-6275-908-4 NUGI655

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher, Delft University Press, The Netherlands.

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PREFACE

This publication contains the results of an investigation into the systems of statutory building regulations and the systems of supervision of compliance with these regulations. The investigation has been commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment. It is a sequel to the investigation Ouality Statements and the Building Inspectorate performed by the undersigned and the investigation The Future of the Building Inspectorate performed by Wijnja and Priemus of the OTB in 1990.

The investigation has been set up to collect information on building control in the countries surrounding the Netherlands and to make it easily accessible. At the same time it is possible to compare building control in the various countries, as a result of which interesting parts of other systems are spotlighted that may give cause for improvement of the Dutch Building Inspectorate.

The present investigation forms the second part of my post-graduate training at the OTB. From the OTB ir. D.e. Kooijman and ir. H.L. Swets counselled the investigation. On the part of the principals ir. C. van den Thillart of the Ministry of Housing (DOK-DGVH), ir. E.G.e. Coppens of the Foundation for Building Ouality and mr.ing. C.H.N.M. Petit of the Netherlands Union of Local Authorities and Mr Gosselink of the City W ork Association counselled the investigation. I am grateful to the persons mentioned for their contributions. Further, I owe considerable thanks to a number of focal points in the countries investigated who provided the information for the report and checked whether it was correctly reproduced.

Henk Visscher, Delft, July 1993.

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1 INTRODUCTION AND SET-UP OF THE

INVESTIGATION

1.1 Introduction

To protect the safety and health of their citizens governments draw up laws, mIes and regulations for the built environment. In the course of time points of departure in addition to safety and health, such as utility, energy economy, durability and economic motives have come to play a part. For enforcement of the regulations procedures have been laid down in laws for checking building plans against the regulations and issuing building permits. The procedures usually continue until the building is completed, whereby it is checked in the building phase whether the building for which the building permit has been issued is also really being built in practice according to plan.

This report describes the building permit procedures and building control in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Starting from the legal frameworks, the technical building regulations and the building permit procedures followed, the system of building control is examined. By 'building control system' is meant the whole of control and supervisory activities that ensure that the statutory building regulations are upheld in practice. Af ter the separate descriptions of the various countries the systems are compared on their components.

1.2 Reason for the investigation

In the investigation Quality Statements and the Building Inspectorate (Visscher, 1992), the functioning of the Building Inspectorate in Dutch practice has been discussed at length. This investigation was performed under the regime of the 'old' Housing Act and the municipal Building Code. Since 1 October 1992 the revised Housing Act and the Building Decree have been introduced. Despite the fact that the framework within which the Building Inspectorate functions has been amended and the system of performance requirements of the technical

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regulations has been introduced by the Building Decree, the investigation nevertheless forms a good basis for analysing the functioning of building control. In the investigation mentioned most of the staff-members of the Building Inspectorate interviewed indicated that the quality of building control still left something to be desired. Great pressure of work, developments in building technology, building regulations, calculation regulations and methods, poor coordination within a building team etc. ensure that the building contral official sometimes is left to ask himself whether a building is in fact being built entirely in accordance with the regulations.

Adequate control is increasingly difficult through new high-grade technologies, the developments of which cannot be followed by all building control officials and greater pressure of work through building permit procedures for which time limits are set and, in the case of some prajects, reduced building contral by the building participants themselves. However, with a shrinking building production that pressure of work can also reduce again quickly.

On the other hand, the contral activities can be alleviated by making regulations uniform, standanlizing building application documents, automation, certification of building products and building systems and in the longer term perhaps certification of building techniques or completely realized building components. The introduction of permit-free and notifiabie structures with the Revised Housing Act can also attend in theory to a reduction in the pressure of work. The following motives formed the basis for a comparative investigation of building permit procedures in some Ee countries:

1. By comparing the systems of building contral within the building process on parts, advantages and disadvantages of the various systems can be charted. The findings of the investigation Quality Statements and the Building Inspectorate offer a frame of reference for such a comparison.

Possibly recommendations can be made on the basis of the comparisons of the various systems for improving the Dutch system of building contral. 2. On account of the free Eurapean market an increase is to be expected in

the international trade in building products and services. Therefore, knowl-edge of the building permit pracedures and the systems of building contral such as exist in the surrounding countries is useful for international com-munication.

1.3 Formulation of the problem and research questions The problem of the investigation is formulated as follows:

Describe the building permit procedures and the control for maintaining the statutory building regulations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands and indicate the importance of characteristic parts of those systems.

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Research questions

In the investigation the following questions are answered: 1 Laws and technical regulations

Which laws regulate the building permit procedure and building control? Which other official documents, such as orders, rules, by-laws etc. play a part in this? What is laid down in these documents about building permit pro-cedures and building control ?

In which documents are the constructional regulations laid down? What references are made in these regulations?

How are the regulations formulated: functional or performance requirements? To what extent is there national uniformity of the regulations, and in what degree are local exceptions possible?

To what extent has the EC Directive on Building Products already been implemented in tbe regulations?

2 Building permit procedure

- How does the building permit procedure operate?

What is the relation between the procedure for checking the planning regula-tions (location regularegula-tions: land-use plan, aesthetic code) and the procedure for checking the technical regulations?

What is the input and output of the procedure? Which documents have to be submitted and to what extent is that laid down? What does the building permit look like, what is stated on it? What are other relevant documents in this process?

How long do the procedures last, are they bound to maximum time limits? Different procedures for different kinds of constructions?

For which constructions is no permit required?

How does the registration of the various stages in the procedure go? 3 Local public building control

- What are the tasks of the local building control services? What is the organizational structure?

What functions and specializations may be distinguished?

What is the ratio of the number of technical staff to the number (and size) of building plans dealt with annually or to the size of the local authority?

How does the communication with the submitters of building plans go? How are the fees fixed?

What instruments andjor aids are used in control and supervision? To what extent is use made of checklists?

To what extent are the control and the results of the control administered? How completely are building plans checked?

How great is the certainty that after a check the structure also complies with the regulations?

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- How objective is building control? Are the results of the testing strongly dependent on the inspecting official?

- What is the average and maximum assessment time of building plans? 4 Private altematives for checking the public regulations

- What possibilities does the law offer for the privatization of (parts) of building control?

What conditions exist for private building control organizations? How are they supervised?

How does private building control stand in relation to the official building permit procedure? How far do the powers extend?

What private organizations exist that exercise a certain form of building control?

Which kind of constructions do these organizations mainly check?

What do the organizations look like? What functions and what specializations in technical control may be distinguished?

5 Quality statements

- What kinds of quality statements that have arelation to the public building regulations exist?

- What is the relation of the quality statements to the technical building regula-tions?

- What part, both legal and practical, can quality statements play in the building permit procedure?

Then the systems of the various countries are compared on parts, and the following questions in particular emerge:

6 Comparison

- Comparison of the quality aspects: completeness of the check, intrinsic quality, objectivity, time and cost of the check.

- Comparison of the possibilities that the legislation offers for privatization and how this works in practice. Which elements of building control should be privatized and which not?

- Which form of privatization is attractive for the Netherlands?

- Which parts of the systems for enforcing the statutory building regulations from the other countries investigated offer interesting altematives to the Dutch system?

1.4 Demarcation of the research field

Building permit procedures and building control in the member states of the BC cover a very large research field. A further demarcation has therefore been made.

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Countries

In the fust place the area to be investigated is confined to five Member States of the Ee. A choice has been made of the most influential countries and countries that have significantly different building control systems. The United Kingdom, Germany and France have been chosen as influential countries. In addition France is an example of a country with strongly privatized building control. Denmark has been added as one of the Scandinavian countries. Then a descripti-on of the Dutch system has been included so that there is a basis for compari-son.

Building permit procedures and building control

Attention in the investigation is directed in the first place towards checldng compliance with the technical building regulations. By the technical building regulations that part of the regulations is meant that in the Netherlands appears in the Building Decree and the technical provisions to which reference is made in the regulations of the Building Decree (such as NEN standards, conditions of the public utilities for making connections and quality statements). In the analyses of the building permit procedures attention will be directed chiefly towards the activities that are concerned with control and supervision of these technical regulations. Urban planning, aesthetics and other location-linked regulations are not examined. The legal and administrative aspects of the building permit procedure are dealt with broadly.

There are many aspects that affect the functioning of building control: the legislation within which the work has to be done, organization of the building permit procedure and building control, organization of the building process, the quality of the architects, designers and contractors, the instruments and aids used, the standardization of specifications and documents, the developments in technology and familiarity with them, etc. etc.

Building control refers in the fust place to public building control as a part of the building permit procedure. The quality of building control required to comply with public responsibilities is largely dependent on the quality that the private parties supply in the building process and the degree of control and supervision that the private parties themselves attend to. In some cases the government can impose a certain private quality monitoring.

In this investigation the term building control is used for the whole system, public and private, that can contribute to enforcement of the public technical building regulations.

1.5 Research methods

The research methods applied, the research approach and the way in which the results have been processed in the report are shown in the following eight steps. The structure of the report is clarified by Figure 1.1.

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1 Problem analysis

What is important in building permit procedures and building control, what information is sought? The point of departure for tbis analysis is formed by two recent studies of the Dutch Building Inspectorate (Wijnja and Priemus 1990, Visscher, 1992) and some international studies (incI. Institute of Building Control, 1992).

The set of concepts used in the investigation is elaborated in Chapter 2. 2 Questionnairè

An extensive questionnaire was compiled in· wbich research questions 1 to 7 were incorporated. In addition to the concrete questions, brochures, descrip-tions, literature and other documentation have been requested on the subjects mentioned in the questionnaire.

The questionnaire was sent at the end of November 1992 to some twenty ministries, building control organizations and research institutions in the four EC Member States investigated. In January 1993 a further ten questionnaires were sent out. The bodies surveyed appear in Appendix 1.

Most of the organizations written to responded. In many cases they did not complete the questionnaire, but usually sent documentation describing the subjects to be investigated.

3 Interviews

The Institute of Building Control in England has performed an investigation into technical building regulations and building control in fourteen European countries. In Godalming, England, tbis investigation was discussed with Tony Ratcliff. Staff of the Local Building Control authorities were also interviewed here.

In Paris interviews were held with Jean Pierre Mazière of Contröle et Préven-tion (CEP) and with Jean Hoebier of Bureau Veritas, both private building control organizations. In addition a discussion was held with Richard Grandin of the Department for Architecture and Urban Planning of the Ministère de l'Equipement et du Logement.

4 Asking for missing information

The information that was missing for rounding off the descriptions of the systems of building control in the four countries and the information for an equivalent comparison has been requested from the bodies from which the greatest response was to be expected in view of the first round of the survey. 5 Description of building control systems

With the literature, the replies to the questionnaires and the interviews, research questions 1 to 5 have been elaborated per country. All this is described in Chapters 3 to 7.

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6 Comparison and conc1usions

Per subject the situations in the five countries have been compared. The descriptions of the separate countries contain the basic information for this. Further, research question 6 has been worked out, WÎth which the conditions that the systems offer for a qualitatively good building control are analysed. This comparison is elaborated in Chapter 8.

7 Recommendations

In the conclusions (Chapter 8) the characteristic elements of the various systems are described. It is indicated here what the strong and weak points are.

Finally, Chapter 9 contains recommendations in which parts of the systems of England, France, Germany and Denmark are described that may possibly mean a supplementation or improvement for the Dutch system of building control. Further study must show whether the material can really be used for the Netherlands.

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Figure 1.1 Research structure . QUESTIONNAIRES INTERVIEWS LITERATURE FURTHBR INFORMATION BUILDING PERMIT PROCEDURE QUALrrY STATE-MENTS

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2 SET OF CONCEPTS FOR BUILDING PERMITS

AND BUILDING CONTROL

2.1 Introduction

To clarify the themes that come up in Chapters 3 to 7 the terms used are defined below. Findings from the investigation Quality Statements and the Building Inspectorate (Visscher, 1992) have given insight into what can affect the quality of building contro!. This forms the basis for the investigation of the systems in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark and the Nether-lands.

2.2 Definitions

This report describes per country the statutory technical building regulations and the system that has been set up to ensure that these regulations are applied in building practice (Chapters 3 to 7). In each case the same list of subjects is discussed. In each country comparable instmments exist that are repeatedly given a different effect. Language forms a problem in ultimately arriving at compara-bie descriptions. Not all concepts can be directly translated because they are anchored in the culture of the country in question. This is notably the case with the quality statements. A good definition of the concepts used is therefore important.

Building regulations

Building regulations mean the whole system of laws, orders, mIes, by-Iaws etc. that lay down statutory regulations for the physical quality and the location of buildings and describe procedures for the implementation of those regulations and supervision thereof.

Usually laws exist that determine the framework of the building regulations. In the laws procedures are laid down and reference is made to other docunientati-on for the further detailing of the cdocunientati-oncrete technical regulatidocunientati-ons. The statutory importance of other documents, such as standards and quality statements, can also be indicated.

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Building permit procedure

The building permit procedure is a procedure that has to be followed to obtain a building permit. A building permit is a document in which the official permission of a government body to an applicant is laid down for the performance of a building initiative.

In all the five countries investigated a department of the regional or local government implements the building permit procedure. The main outlines of the procedure are usually laid down in national laws, but their practical elaboration is further determined in the municipal by-Iaws and in the practicalorganization of the work.

Local public building control

The local or regional government body that is responsibie for implementing the building permit procedure.

Private building control

Private building control means in this report certain building control and supervision activities of private building control organizations whereby public building regulations also come up. This private building control may be directly or indirectly obligatory in the national legislation, but it may also be that private initiatives without legal obligation offer an alternative to public building control. Quality statements .

Quality statements are documents in which is stated that products, building systems or execution processes meet given requirements. Each country has its own types of quality statements. For reasons of comparison this report works with three main types.

Product certiticate

A product certificate is a document in which is stated that a product is in conformity with a technical specification, a product specification. A product certificate is a third-party declaration. The technical specification used for product certification is mostly taken from a standard or a technical approval. Technical approval

Atechnical approval is a document in which is stated that a product or a building system can be used to build buildings which satisfy certain requirements.

The requirements are mostly taken from building regulations. The technical approval itself does not contain the statement that all products that are produced by the manufacturer meet the technical specification in the technical approval. Such statement is to be found in the product certificate. Technical approvals and product certificates for one product are of ten combined in one document. Also does the technical approval itself not contain the statement that the installation of the product or the system in the building is always carried out according to

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tbe prescribed execution requirements. Sucb statement is to be found in tbe process certificate.

Process certificate

A process certificate is a document in which is stated that the installation of a product or a system is in conformity with execution specifications.

2.3 Qualitative aspects of building control

The motivation for this research has been derived in part from the prior investi-gation Quality Statements and the Building Inspectorate (Visscher, 1992). For tbis investigation reveals that the effectiveness of the building permit and building contral system is not optimum. This section considers the findings of that investigation on the quality of building control. Further, 'measuring points' have been formulated from it that have served as input for collecting the information on the countries now to be examined. In Chapter 8 the principal information for the various countries is given in tabular form, insofar as suffi-cient information is available.

To be able to characterize the quality of building control, it should first be investigated what has to be attained with building contral. For that purpose the objectives for formulating building regulations will fust be analysed.

Objectives for drawing up statutory building regulations 1 Protecting citizens against the consequences of building:

a Ensuring the safety and health of third parties (prevention of dangerous situations)

*

public buildings

*

private buildings (the danger that such buildings can cause for the envi-ronment).

bEnsuring that people can use a building safely and healthily; that the building is serviceable and if necessary also long-lasting and affordable. c Protecting social goals such as regulations that have been drawn up for

reasons of energy-saving, soil conservation etc.

2 Monitoring a minimum quality of the housing stock (social infrastructure). 3 Encouraging barmonization by standardization of terminologies, metbods of

calculation and technical specifications to promote efficiency in building and to keep the market open. This argument applies above all at European level. On the basis of the above objectives systerns of regulations have been developed by which a technical minimum for the new structures to be built is guaranteed. The government bas tben to see to it that the regulations are observed in practice. In the five countries investigated a municipal building control service is

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charged with the task of testing new structures to be built against the technical regulations. If the building plan is satisfactory, a building permit is issued. Then it is checked during construction whether building is actually being performed in accordance with the permit.

The five countries do not follow the same building permit procedure and there is certainly a difference in the way in which observance of the regulations is checked. Differences mayalso exist within the country itself and per local authority.

Objective of public building control

The technical building regulations have been developed in accordance with the above objectives. It proved that local building control, which in principle must check whether all statutory regulations have been complied with, concentrates in the first place on the location-dependent regulations (land-use plan) and the regulations that have been drawn up for safety and health. Further, the building application, insofar as the capacity offers scope for it, is verified against the remaining technical building regulations.

The way of checking in practice proves to depend on many factors, including: - capacity and pressure of work of the implementing body;

- quality that the preparation for building and implementation yields; - required professional qualifications of the building participants; - quality contral by the building participants themselves;

- certification of products and building methods.

The differences hamper a good comparison of the importance or the quality of the building control system.

Quality aspects

The quality of building control cannot be absolutely (quantitatively) measured in this investigation. Therefore, the quality will of ten be indicated by qualitative data.

The practice of the Dutch Building Inspectorate

The quality aspects that are used in tbis investigation are defined on the basis of the previous research (Visscher, 1992), grafted on to the characteristics of Dutch building control.

The technical testing of building plans proceeds in principle in the traditional way. In many cases the technical assessment of a building plan consists of plan testing, structural check and outside inspection. These different contral moments each have their own characteristics, are of ten performed by separate specialists and should therefore also be dealt with separately here.

Plan testing

In this phase a building plan is assessed as completely as possible. In principle it is examined whether the plan complies with all technical regulations. Practically speaking, this goes as follows: the plan tester examines the submitted documents.

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The plan is broadly evaluated. What kind of restrictions does the location impose on building, what kind of construction is used, what are the parts of the plan that require special attention? The other documents are also checked. Are

all calculations present and complete? Which architects and advisers are involved in the plans?

An inspecting official then assesses an application in accordance with his own insight and experience. A checklist with topics is hardly ever worked through; the plan tester goes by his own priorities.

Structural check

Testing of the structural part of an application broadly corresponds to that of the architectural part. Experience with the work of the structural adviser involved is here even more decisive for the intensity of the check. The type of construction too is of great importance. The specialized nature of the work ensures that practically all Dutch Building Inspectorates have engaged specialists for tbis task. Outside inspection

A complete check does not occur with outside inspections. The inspector arrives at the site at crucial moments (start of pile-driving, just before the first pouring of concrete etc.). Many parts of building can be checked only at the time when work is being done on them. The intensity of inspection is in tbis case highly dependent on the situation on site: the complexity and size of the building, architect and designers, the presence of supervision (site foreman, management, quality control system etc.).

Quality of building control

The performance of building control depends on many external factors and on the views and experiences of the individual building control official. Now how is the effectiveness to be assessed? Control of the safety of buildings is adequate in the Netherlands. This check is the first goal of building control, and according to the staff of the Building Inspectorate by far the most important, in the case of extreme pressure of work even the only one. If we look at the wider objective of building control, which amounts to acquiring a given certainty that the structures also comply with all the other technical regulations, the necessary question marks should be placed.

The quality of building control may be divided into the following aspects: completeness

intrinsic quality

objectivity

Has the construction been tested against all the relevant technical regulations?

The degree of certainty that the construction complies with the relevant performance requirements of building regulati-ons

To what degree are the results of the plan testing dependent on the checking official?

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time cost

The speed with which a thorough check is performed Cost of the building control machinery.

The quality of Dutch building control is shown in Tables 2.1 to 2.5. As a basis for this the investigation Quality Statements and the Building Inspectorate (Visscher, 1992) served. The points of attention that are determined in this way have been used to collect information on building control in the other countries to be investigated. This of ten proves to be subjective information such as opinions of building control staff or of applicants for building permits. Within the investigation it has proved impossible to collect sufficient information of this kind. In Chapter 8 the systems of the five countries are compared and the quality is repeated in tabular form and, where possible, a concretization is given for each of the five countries.

Table 2.1 Completeness

QUALITY ASPECf

COMPLETENESS

proportion of the regulations that are actual-ly checked and the proportion

of parts and the composite structure on which those regulations are verified

FINAL OPINION INDICATORS registration of chec-ked topics registration of defects found

use of checklists (whe-ther or not automa-ted) priority lists random checks CONCLUSION, NETHERLANDS no partly to be found in appendix on further conditions for building permits, partlyon

dra-wings, not systemati-cally registered hardly used; with the Building Decree it seems more obvious that this could be developed used in some cases random checks based on experience most important mat-ters are checked; the completeness is highly uncertain! !

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Table 2.2 Quality as regards content

QUALITY ASPEcrs

INTRINSIC QUALITY to what extent a building plan is really checked in accordance with the letter and the intention of the regulations FINAL OPINION INDICATORS training refresher courses specialization aids consultation of regulations

consulting expert outside assistance

verifiability of building application documents -requirements of standardi-zation of these documents

Source: Visscher, 1992, Kwaliteitsverklaringen en het BWT.

SITUATION, NETHERLANDS

topical refresher training on new materials and methods of construction and to what other approach to checking this leads ought to be better

U sually specialization in plan testingj construction-j outside inspection.

Structural checking requires a specialist.

For the system of regulations and standards of the Building Decree the BRIS system exists.

This is an automated consulta-tion system.

For structural checking compu-ter programs are used. For the principle of equivalen-ce a national consultation post exists.

Smaller local authorities must cooperate more to expand the available expertise.

Construction calculations in particular must be more stand

-ardized.

Difficult to give a conclusion about the total quality of the check as regards content. The impression exists that this quality is variabie, since the approach of the various plans fluctuates strongly through numerous influences (experien-ce, prejudices, available capaci

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Table 2.3 Objectivity QUALITY ASPECfS OBJECTIVITY objective assessment of building plans FlNAL OPINION INDICATORS

inspector's knowledge of the regulations

unequivocal interpretability of the regulations

inspector's knowledge of building materials and con

-struction methods

SITUATION, NETHERLANDS Regulations are not always employed literally; inspector

thinks he knows them by heart

The performance require-ments of the Building De-cree with reference to NEN standards attend to an une-quivocal system of regulati-ons.

Attention in checking proves to be largely based on

eert-ain good or bad experiences with and prejudiees about building solutions applied or the quality of the architect or designer involved:

The differences between the inspectors prove to be very great.

Through the individual way of working, without use of checklists and without c1ear registration of the results of checking, objectivity does not seem to be guaranteed.

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Table 2.4 Time QUALITY ASPECfS

TIME

Average time spent on chec-Icing building plans, from the moment of preliminary talks up to and including supervi-sion on implementation

FINAL OPINION

INDICATORS

(Statutory)

limitation of the time for dealing with building applica-tions

Registration of the time for dealing with building applica-tions (including preliminary talks)

Quotient of manhours of building control: number of building applications per year

Table 2.5 Cost

QUALITY ASPECfS

COST

cost of the building control machinery (in proportion to the extent of the control)

FINAL OPINION

INDICATORS

Actual cost of the building control machinery

Number of manhours

Sum of the fees for building permits

In the revised Housing Act this is put at three months

Little as yet known on tbis; it

will be important how extensive the preliminary talks will be in the new situation

approx. 0.02 manyears per buil-ding permit (Bentvelsen, 1989)

Formally the time is limited; in practice this can be simply cir-cumvented by extensive prelimi-nary talks.

(total of staff* average salary, divided by volume of building production )

Examples:

population no. of tech. staff 20,000 4

60,000 10 100,000 18 500,000 70 Unknown

Too few data to draw a conclu-sion.

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3 UNITED KlNGDOM

3.1 Introduction

The systems of building regulations and building control of England and Wales are the same. The systems of Scotland and Northern Ireland have minor differ-ences from the. English system. This chapter mainly describes the English and Welsh system and only sometimes are the differences in Scotland and N orthern Ireland mentioned.

Local authorities check plans on compliance with the technical requirements from the building regulations. The planning part and the building part of the building permit procedure are legislative by separated. The constructional part of the building permit is called the Building Regulations Approval. The basic tools for the technical control are the Approved Documents, which have the character of 'deemed to satisfy' construction examples.

Approved Inspectors are a private alternative to building control. They operate mainly on the market for private dwellings.

3.2 Law, regulations and requirements Law concerning building control

The laws governing the three building control systems in the United Kingdom are:

England and Wales The Building Act, 1984.

Scotland The Building (Scotland) Act, 1959. Northern Ireland Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

-The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 1979. Purpose

The purpose of the legislation is to enable regulations to be made for securing the health, welfare, safety and convenienee of persons in or about buildings and others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings for furthering the conservation of fuel and power.

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Table 3.1 The Building Regulations

Al Loading

A2 Ground Movement

A3, A4 Disproportionate Collapse Bl Means of Escape

B2 Intemal Fire Spread (Linings) B3 Intemal Fire Spread (Structure) B4 Extemal Fire Spread

B5 Access and Facilities for the Fire Service Cl Preparation of Site

C2 Dangerous and Offensive Substances C3 Subsoil Drainage

C4 Resistance to Weather and Ground Moi-sture

Dl Cavity Insulation El Airborne Sound (Walls)

E2 Airborne Sound (Floors and Stairs) E3 Impact Sound (Floors and Stairs) Fl Ventilation

F2 Condensation in Roofs

Gl Sanitary Conveniences and Washing Facilities

Source: Building Regulations 1991.

G2 Bathrooms G3 Hot Water Storage Hl Foul Water Drainage

H2 Cesspools, Septic Tanks and Settlement Tanks

H3 Rainwater Drainage H4 Solid Waste Storage J1 Air Supply

J2 Discharge of Products of Combustion J3 Protection of Building

Kl Stairs and Ramps K2 Protection from Fal1ing K3 Vehicle Barriers

Ll Conservation of Fuel and Power Ml Interpretation of Access Requirements M2 Access and Use

M3 Sanitary Conveniences M4 Audience or Spectator Seating N Glazing - Materials and Protection

Table 3.2 Example: Building Regulations Part F

PART F VENTILATlON Means of ventilation

Ft There shall be adequate means of ventilation provided for people in the building. Requirement Fl applies only t~:

(a) dwellings;

(b) the spa ces within any building containing two or more dwellings which are used solely or principally in connection with those dwellings;

(c) rooms containing sanitary conveniences; (d) bathrooms.

Condensation in roofs

F2 Adequate provision shall be made to prevent excessive condensation: (a) in a roof

(b) in a roof void above an insulated cei1ing Source: Building Regulations, 1991.

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Buildings

The legislation applies to all 'building work' whether for the public or private sector although some bodies, mostly statutory undertakers (like gas, electricity and water undertakings) and Crown property (like buildings for the army) are exempt from procedural requirements.

Relation with other legislation

There is no direct relationship with planning legislation; this is operated under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1990. Because the administrative procedu-res are similar, planning and building control departments of local authorities operate in close liaison.

Separate legislation is applicable to health and safety at work places, e.g. The Factories Act, 1961, the Offices Shops and Railway Premises Act, 1963 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, 1974.

Other legislation affecting the construction of buildings includes the Fire Precautions Act, 1971 and the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act, 1987.

Regulations containing technical requirements There are three sets of regulations:

England and Walés The Building Regulations, 1991.

Scotland The Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations, 1990.

Northem Ireland Building Regulations (Northem Ireland) 1990.

(as amended by the Building (Amendment) Regulations, (Northem Ireland), 1991.

System of requirements

The requirements of the building regulations for England and Wales are all written in functional terms, and an Approved Document has been issued by the Department of the Environment for each part of the requirements.

Approved Documents give guidance on ways in which the requirements can be met, and generally, if the constructions set out in the approved document have been followed, this indicates compliance with the requirements.

It is not mandatory to follow the guidance but if the form of construction is challenged, it will be necessary to prove that the method used is equivalent to that shown in the Approved Documents.

In Scotland, the regulations are also written in functional terms and set standards which must be met and provisions which are deemed to satisfy those standards. In Northem [reland, regulations are not written in functional terms but contain provisions which are to-satisfy the requirements. Some of the deemed-to-satisfy provisions are contained in documents similar to the Approved Documents for England and Wales.

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Table 3.3 Buildings exempt from control in England and Wales

Class 1 Buildings subject to the Explosive Acts, the Nuclear Installations Act or ancient monu-ments.

Class 2 Buildings into which people do not normally go or only enter for the purpose of maintain-ing tixed plant or machinery, subject to the buildmaintain-ing bemaintain-ing at least one and a half times its height from the boundary or from occupied buildings.

Class 3 Greenhouses and agricultural buildings subject to similar restrictions on siting as Class 2 with a maximum travel distance of 30 m. to a fire exit.

Class 4 Temporary buildings not intended to remain for more than 28 days.

Class 5 Buildings used as sales units on new housing estates, construction site huts with no sleeping accommodation and certain buildings used in connection with work at a mine or

quarry.

Class 6 Detached single storey buildings within fioor area less than 30 m2, more than 1 m from

the boundary and constructed of substantially non combustibie material. Buildings of

similar size used as shelters from nuclear, chemical or other weapons. Detached buildings

with no sleeping accommodation not exceeding 15 m2 _{with no restriction on siting or}

materials of construction.

Class 7 Extensions comprising a conservatory, porch, covered way, covered yard or carport (open

on two sides) which are less than 30 m2_•_{Provided that in conservatories and porches any}

glazing in dangerous locations is safety glazing. Source: Building Regulations, 1991.

The requirements to the regulations rely extensively on recommendations given in British Standards produced by the British Standards Institution. Reference is also made to Agrément Certificates issued by the British Board of Agrément (see § 3.6). The requirements in this document are written in general functional terms. As an example: The requirements about ventilation can be found in part F of the Building Regulations (Tabie 3.2).

These general formulated requirements are elaborated for practical situations in the 'Approved Documents'. In these approved documents constructions are des-cribed and drawn that will give a solution that meets with the requirements. These described solutions are based on practical existing constructions. The approved documents are very useful, convenient instruments for the building control authorities. The examples given in the documents, however, are always based on traditional constructions. It is possible to find other solutions. The designer has to prove in some way that his construction will give the same performance as those of the approved documents.

The requirements are identical nationwide. There are no possibilities for alocal authority to demand additional requirements. But in the case of a not common, non traditional solution which cannot be found directly in the approved docu-ments the approach of the controllers from authority to authority, or even from person to person, can be different.

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In Appendix 2 the reader will find a copy of the "approved document F" which is related to part F of the requirement which was given as an example above. Buildings

Tbe regulations apply to 'building work', which is defined as the erection, or extension of a building, a material alteration to a building, and a material change of use of a building.

Buildings exempt from control

Buildings exempted from control are listed in Tables 3.3. and 3.4

Tbere are similar exemptions for Northern Ireland, but some buildings are wholly exempt and some partially exempt.

Developments, changes

Tbe building regulations in England and Wales have recently been revised and the Building Regulations 1991 came into force on June 1st, 1992. Tbe building standards regulations in Scotland came into force on April 1st, 1991. Tbe latest amendment to the Northern Ireland regulations came into force on July 1st, 1991. Tbere is a likelihood that amendments will be made in 1994 to further the conservation of fuel and power.

Tbe Construction Products Directive was implemented in the United Kingdom by the Construction Products Regulations, 1991 which came into force in December 1991.

Tbe building regulations in England and Wales require the use of proper materials that are appropriate for the circumstances in which they are used, and the definition of 'proper materiais' includes materials which:

a bear an appropriate CE Mark in accordance with the Construction Products Directive,

b conform to an appropriate harmonized standard or European technical approval,

c conform to an appropriate British Standard or British Board of Agrément Certificate,

d conform to some other national technical specification of any Member State which provides, in use, an equivalent of protection and performance, with respect to the relevant requirements of the regulations, as an appropriate British Standard or British Board of Agrément certificate.

Similar wording is contained within the regulations for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.

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Table 3.4 Buildings exempt from control in Scotland

The list of exemptions is extensive but is summarized as follows.

Classes Buildings used for agriculture or forestry - maximum size 1130 m3 _and

1 & 2 not less than 13 m from the boundary

Class 3 Buildings housing plant or machinery - 13 m or height of building from boundary Class 6 Essential buildings for railway undertakings

Class 7 Bus passenger shelters

Class 8 Essential buildings for docks and harbours Class 9 Civil engineering works

Class 10 Buildings controlled under the Explosive Acts

Class 11 Buildings used for keeping poultry, bees, birds, etc. For domestic enjoyment - with

size and construction limitations

Class 12 Class 13 Class 14 Class 15 Class 16 Class 17 Class18

Detached carports or covered ways not exceeding 30 m2

Detached greenhouses - not more than 3 m high and 20 m2 _{floor area}

Detached garages - not exceeding 30 m2

Construction site huts Moveable dwellings Temporary buildings

Gates and fences maximum 2.1 m high Boundary walls maximum 1.2 m high

Class 19 Underground cables, pipes and sewers - not those for drainage of buildings.

Source: The Building Standards Regulations 1990.

Table 3.5 Making An Application

A Pull Plans deposit should contain:

1 Two completed Full Plans application forms 2 Two copies (four if Means of Escape is

involved) of the detailed drawings of the proposed building work. The plans should be drawn to a scale of not less than

1: 100.

3 Two copies of a site or location plan drawn to a scale of not less than 1:1250 upon which is shown the proposal, site boundaries and the position of the public sewers. 4 The relevant fee (see appropriate form).

Note

Unlike the Building Notice the Full Plans Application will be formally determined and a decision will be issued.

Source: The Building Regulations, 1991.

A Building Notice deposit should contain:

1 If the proposal is for a new building or an extension, the Notice should contain a site plan to a scale of not less than 1:1250 upon which are shown the proposed site boun-daries and the position of the public sewers.

Waming Delays can occur to the smooth

process of either type of application if the: a form is improperly completed, b form is unsigned and undated, c fee is improperly calculated or does

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3.3 Building permit procedure

A building permit procedure in the United Kingdom actually consists of two parts, the planning procedure and the building regulations procedure. In the planning process an application is made to the Council for permission to develop. Under the provisions of the building regulations the requirement is to deposit plans and particulars of the proposed building work, for an assessment to be made as to the technical acceptability of the scheme. This is commonly called an application.

Unlike a planning application where permission is either granted or refused, plans deposited under the building regulations are passed if they satisfy the technical requirements, or are rejected if they do not. The passing of the building plans is referred to as an approval, hence in the British system the technical part of a building permit is called a Building Regulations Approval.

Forms, permits

There is no prescribed format for the submitted information, but each district council (local authority) will supply an application form (see appendix). There are two different methods for giving the information that building work is to be carried out.

The first method is called the deposit of Full Plans and the second is called a

Building Notice.

The choice to make a Full Plans submission or to use a Building Notice is up to the applicant. Both systems have advantages and disadvantages. But it should be borne in mind that the ultimate object is to ensure that the actual building work

will satisfy the standards.

A Full Plans submission has the advantage that the Council will appraise the proposed work before it begins. Plans submitted in this manner have to be formally determined by the Council, within a prescribed period, by being passed or rejected. Work determined in this manner may proceed in the confidence and security of the formal notification from the Council that the plans have been passed. The Building Notice procedure can be used for all types of work except those premises where, generally, a fire certificate from the Fire Authorities will be required, eg for hotels, boarding houses, shops and offices.,

Once a Building Regulation application has been made using either Full Plans or a Building Notice, the legal requirement, which has to teIl the council about the intended work, has been satisfied. Work may begin two days later, but the Council has to be informed when the work begins and when a number of the important stages are reached (see Table 3.6).

If the application is by the way of Full Plans, it is wise to wait until the plans have been passed, but this is not necessary. However, this provides a safeguard. The Building Notice has the advantage of its simplicity, when used for example by a householder for such minor work most matters are verifiabie when the Council makes its inspection but occasionally additional information may be necessary for clarification.

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Consequently if the proposed work is not extensive or complex, it is a good idea to use a Building Notice.

An approval notice is not issued if a Building Notice is served, but a decision, either approval or refusal, must be given on Full Plans deposited within five weeks or two months by agreement.

There is an obligation on the local authority to issue a final certificate if the work relates to any fire safety measures Q[ if a request has been made for a final

certificate at the time of application for approval.

Permits to occupy are not issued but the local authority must be notified if

occupation takes place before all the works have been completed.

Other bodies, such as the fire service, are consulted when necessary. Where appropriate, the planning department of the authority is consulted to ensure that there are no discrepancies between the building regulation application and the planning application.

For housing projects up to eight storeys in height, a deve10per may chose to use the services of an approved inspector instead of the local authority to supervise. building work, but enforcement procedures can only be taken by alocal author-ity. The approved inspector has a duty to supervise the work to ensure that it

complies with the requirements of the regulations and does not have to follow the procedural regulations. If, however, a contravention of the regulations occurs and the buil der does not remedy the deficiency, the approved inspector must teIl the local authority so that the works can be made to comply, through legal proceedings if necessary (see also § 3.6).

Whether or not the work is being supervised by an approved inspector, there is no requirement for a designer to be qualified; anyone can prepare plans and submit them for approval.

Scotland

In Scotland application must be made for a building warrant to carry out building work. If the work complies with the building standard regulations, a warrant wiIl be issued. Where a warrant has been issued buildings must not be occupied until a certificate of completion has been received.

Northem lreland

The building control system is similar to that in England and Wales but there is no altemative 'approval inspector' system, and there is no option to enable 'Building Notices' to be used.

Charges

The Council makes a charge for the work of administering the regulations and is permitted to charge only an amount prescribed by the regulations. This is called the building regulation fee.

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Payment of the fee will differ depending on whether a Full Plans or a Building Notice is used. In the case of Full Plans a quarter of the fee is paid when the plans are subrnitted (plan fee) and the remainder when the work begins (inspec-tion fee). In the case of a Building Notice, the full amount is paid when the work begins.

A fee for a project is calculated using one of three methods:

a Flat rates are payable for domestic extensions, for example a new garage, kitchen extension etc. The amount payable is contained in a table of charges related to floor areas (f.77 for a garage or carport up to 40m2

, f.210 for an extension or alteration consisting of the provision of one or more rooms up to 40m2).

b N ew houses, bungalows or flats also attract a flat rate fee related to floor area, but a sliding scale sets the fee in proportion to the number of dwellings proposed (f.390 for 2 dwellings under 64m2 _{up to f.2300 for 10 or more}

dwellings over 64m2)

c All other fees are related to the cost of the work (70% of the estimated costs under f.1,OOO fee f.33, 70 % of cost f.10,000 fee f.183, 70% of cost f.50,000 -fee f.670, maximum f.940)

It is the Governments future intention to permit district councils to set their own scale of charges.

Site inspection notices

The regulations require that the person carrying out building work shall give notice to the authority when the work has reached a particular stage. The prescribed stages are set out in Table 3.6 bel ow. 1J1e notice may be either in writing or given by telephone. Most councils issue spesial postcards which may be used to give the written notice. The stages at which notification should be given are pointed out. Stage 6 is not mandatory but it is strongly recommended. Certificate of Completion

A certificate of completion can be issued. The document certifies that as far as the local authorities have been able to ascertain, the requirements of the building regulations have been satisfied.

The certificate is a valuable and important document and is obviously issued with care. Provided that each stage of work has been notified and that the inspections have been made, there is no reason why the certificate should not be issued (see Table 3.7).

Building Control Handbook

Many of the local building control authorities publish a booklet with compre-hensive, detailed customer information about the building control procedure. It is often called 'The Building Control Handbook'. It is a kind of publicity for the local authorities. They present their services to the public like a private company would do. A checklist is available with the information that has to be shown on the plans (see Table 3.8).

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Table 3.6 Inspection Notice Card 1 Commencement

2 Foundation excavated 3 Foundation constructed 4 Damp Proof Course

5 Ground fIoor oversite (before concrete is laid)

two days one day one day one day one day 6 Before covering any structural timbers, steelwork or concrete

7 Drains before backfilling

one day (not mandatory) one day five days five days five days 8 Drains after bacldilling (testing)

9 Occupied before completion (where applicable) 10 Work completed

Source: Local Building Control, Waverley Borough Council, 1992

Table 3.7 Certificate of Completion 1 Details of work

2 Location of work 3 Deposit of particulars

4 Date of completion inspection 5 Compliance with building regulations

6 Limitations of Certificate

7 Authority

This certificate has been authorised by:

Signature:

Source: Building Control Handbook.

Type Approval System

Full Plans wereja Building Notice was deposited under the building regulations made under Section 1 of the Building Act 1984

lt is certified that so far as the council has been able to ascertain, after taking all reasonable steps in that behalf, the substantive requirements of building regulations are satisfied

This Certificate relates only to the work described in (1) above and not in the case of extension or alterations or installation of fittings, to any work carried out to which the regulation did not on this occasion apply, e.g. to the existing building not affected by the extension or the work of repair or the replacement of fittings etc.

Date:

The Local Authority National Type Approval Confederation (LANTAC) offers builders and developers an easy method for registering individual designs for use nationwide. Once approved, all participating authorities will accept the designs as complying with the building regulations without the need for further checking. The scheme applies initially to all forms of housing not exceeding four storeys -bungalows, houses, maisonnettes and flats. It can be used for all types of

Building control in five European countries

BUILDING CONTROL IN

FIVE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Henk Visscher

H0USING AND URBAN POLICY STUDIES

7

BUILDING CONTROL IN FIVE EUROPEAN

COUNTRIES

" 111111111

i

HOUSING AND URBAN POLICY STUDIES

7

+

BUILDING CONTROL IN FIVE EUROPEAN

COUNTRIES

PREFACE

CONTENTS

1

INTRODUCTION AND SET-UP OF THE

INVESTIGATION

2

SET OF CONCEPTS FOR BUILDING PERMITS

AND BUILDING CONTROL

*

*

3

UNITED KlNGDOM