§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has yet completed his review of arrangements for controlling the quality of construction materials and methods; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreesonI have been concerned about this whole issue for some time, and have arranged for my Department to organise and contribute to several consultation exercises with the industries concerned about the future of building control in the light of the new powers available under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and in particular the extent to which quality of construction can be assured.
I hope that despite current resource constraints I shall be able to set up, for the purposes of the Building Regulations, the basis of a system of type approvals and type relaxations for new building products. This will enable us to give central clearance to new products, after careful technical assessment, and at the same time avoid the present wasteful use of local authority manpower on examining them individually on every occasion of use. My Department will issue a consultation document as soon as possible. Meanwhile, on the research side, a new building integrity division is being set up in the Building Research Establishment as a focus for research on reducing the incidence of serious building failures due to new products or techniques; unforeseen conditions of use, environment or loading; deterioration in service; or combinations of these factors. The building integrity division will seek out potential problems so that further investigation or action can be initiated. Such action may include use of the type approval assessment machinery, when set up, to investigate products referred to it by the building integrity division.
I shall continue to keep these developments, the whole question of the most appropriate rôles for the various bodies working in this field, and their expansion as resources allow, under careful review.