§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what is the present full-time membership of the Interdepartmental Component Coordination Group; and how many of those members are in the professional, executive and clerical grades.
§ Mr. MellishThere are 17 members, of whom 11 are professional, 3 executive, and 3 clerical. All the posts are full-time. My Ministry supports the Group with office services.
§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether the Interdepartmental Component Coordination Group is currently studying in depth the whole range of building components with a view to standardisation; whether its work is restricted to a limited range; and what components that range covers.
§ Mr. MellishThe Interdepartmental Component Co-ordination Group is not currently studying the whole range of building components, because this complex work must adhere to a systematic programme.
The primary responsibility for user requirement studies rests with the development groups in building departments. These requirements are reconciled and coordinated by the Group, who will put them into the form of performance specifications which can be used by component manufacturers. These will form the basis for draft British Standards.
4WWork on dimensions is receiving priority, in order that the British Standards Institution programme for the change to metric measurement can be complied with. Although the work of the Group covers the whole range of building components, those for which dimensional co-ordination is most important are dealt with first.