§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he will outline the systematic programme to be followed by the Interdepartmental Component Co-ordination Group in its study of the whole range of building components.
§ Mr. Mellish:As I explained in my reply to the hon. Member for Londonderry (Mr. Chichester-Clark) on 27th November, work on dimensions is receiving priority, and those components for which dimensional co -ordination is most important are being dealt with first. A detailed programme was published by the British Standards Institution in October under reference PD 6249. Although this refers to the timing of B.S.I. work, it was drawn up in consultation with the Component Co-ordination Group, whose work will keep in step with it.—[Vol. 755, c.3–4.]
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he will now give the forward programme dates for the publication of bulletins D.C.6, D.C.7 and further statements on dimensional co-ordination.
§ Mr. Mellish:Both D.C.6 and D.C.7 have already been published. These complete the series of recommendations for intermediate and controlling dimensions. Further D.C. documents are being planned, but I am unable to give a detailed programme for their publication yet.
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what studies he has commissioned into the use of plastic components in Government building projects on the basis of a programmed demand to make such plastic components financially viable; who is carrying out those studies; when the report is expected; and whether it will be published.
§ Mr. Mellish:None. It is not my policy to promote the use of any particular material in building. The Government are actively engaged in the preparation of performance specifications for components required for public sector programmes; plastics will no doubt be 530W among the materials used in the designs developed by industry to meet these specifications.