§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to promote high standards of service from local authority building control departments and private sector approved inspectors. [93019]
§ Mr. RaynsfordMy Department and the National Assembly for Wales are today publishing 'Building Control Performance Standards', on behalf of the Construction Industry Council, the Local Government Association and the Association of Corporate Approved Inspectors, whose Building Control Services Steering Group drew up the document.
Building Control Performance Standards' sets out a series of eleven standards for the good conduct of building control, together with guidance to go with each of these standards.
586WThe eleven standards in the new document cover:
the need for building control bodies to draw up, and make public, a policy on the provision of their building control service in a manner that meets their legal duties and is effective in helping to achieve compliance of building work with the Building Regulations;the need for building control bodies to have adequate staff resources, supplemented if necessary by bought in support;the need for building control bodies to undertake appropriate consultations with other agencies;the need for clear feed back to the client following plans assessment, and for records of the plan checking process;the need for appropriate site inspection regimes, and prompt action on contraventions, with associated records;the need for appropriate certificates to be given to the direct client upon satisfactory completion of the work;the need for retention of records for an appropriate period;the need for suitable arrangements for continuous professional development and in-service training;the need for procedures for self review of performance; the need for adoption of quality management principles;the need for building control bodies to observe the normal professional standards and business ethics expected of service providers.Competition between local authority building control departments and approved inspectors is an important spur to efficiency, and beneficial to the builders and developers who are the immediate clients for the building control service. Building control must also be effective in helping to secure the compliance of building work with the requirements of the Building Regulations, which exist to promote the health, safety, welfare and convenience of building users, as well as energy efficiency.
587WBuilding Control Performance Standards' recognises that the building control function is the same whether it is carried out by a local authority or by an approved inspector. It sets out the ways in which all building control providers can work to achieve effective and efficient levels of service.
My Department is writing today to local authorities in England and to approved inspectors to ask them to commit themselves to adopt and apply the performance standards and have regard to the associated guidance. The National Assembly for Wales is taking parallel action in Wales. The Local Government Association and the Construction Industry Council will be monitoring the response of local authorities and approved inspectors to this initiative.
Officials of my Department and the National Assembly for Wales will be discussing with the Construction Industry Council, the Local Government Association, the Association of Corporate Approved Inspectors and other interested parties including the District Surveyors' Association and the Audit Commission, arrangements for a new advisory body on building control. This body will keep the performance standards and guidance under review and revise them as necessary. It will work with the bodies responsible for monitoring standards of service on the part of local authorities and approved inspectors, to maintain and raise building control standards.