§ 5. Mr. Boydenasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what steps he has taken to secure the co-operation of the building industry in increasing the amount of standardisation of components used in building, and with what results.
§ Mr. RipponI am in constant touch with all sections of the building and building materials industries and with the associated professions on this as on all matters affecting the construction industries.
As a result of the first statement on dimensional co-ordination which I issued in February the British Standards Institution is preparing draft British Standards on floor to floor heights and on staircases. I will be issuing further statements on dimensional co-ordination in due course.
§ Mr. BoydenWould the right hon. Gentleman agree that among small builders and the brick-making industry there is considerable opposition to proposals which have been made? What is he doing to reconcile those interests with those of the makers of prefabricated buildings?
§ Mr. RipponI have not found this opposition. In my statement yesterday, when I was opening a very good new brickworks, I said that I saw no reason to change the size of bricks and that we could build up our dimensional pattern, as it were, without altering the size of bricks.
§ Mr. R. W. ElliottWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that one of the con- 208 clusions of the Report on the Production of Building Components in Shipyards was that local authorities might, with considerable advantage, form themselves into housing consortia? Would he agree that standardisation of component parts would be very desirable in shipbuilding areas in order that shipyards with their spare capacity might more quickly play a part in the housing drive?
§ Mr. RipponI am sure that there are many variations in the size of components which have nothing whatever to do with design. I think that standardisation will help in all these directions.