Search results

The purpose of this paper is to review the four stages of approval and describe the process of building certification. It reviews a sample of the inspection and certification records of 109 houses in south‐east Queensland and analyses their progress through each of the stages. The incidence of minor faults and failures is examined, together with requests for further information. Trends in these incidents are enumerated, described and analysed with a view to improving the process.

Access to a private certifier’s inspection data base was given and 109 houses were randomly selected. All the houses were built in 2010 in south‐east Queensland from the Gold Coast, Brisbane and stretching up to the Sunshine Coast. The full range of inspections was conducted to completion. The records of each house inspection at each of the stages were examined, with the detailed notes of each inspection reviewed and analysed. The inspector’s notes were often extensive and detailed and the authors condensed these down into the main causes of problems in approval for that stage.

The results provide an insight into the process of building approval with documentation required to ensure its integrity and satisfactory completion. A summary of the results provides an insight into this performance.

The building control and certification system is working well and the regulations, codes and trained personnel are maintaining high standards of construction and safety.

Safer and better quality house construction should lead to greater consumer satisfaction and confidence in the community.

This is the first time that such a study of the private certification process has been undertaken in Australia.

The fifth IPCC report on climate change concluded current progress to mitigate anthropocentric climate change is not making any impact. As the built environment emits 50 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating climate change through sustainable construction and adaptation is a priority. Although many new buildings have sustainability ratings, they comprise a minute amount of the total stock. Meanwhile policy makers are adopting strategies to become carbon neutral with targets that require measurement. The purpose of this paper is to propose a means of quantifying the uptake of sustainability across all stock over time using existing policy frameworks.

Given that this is a scoping study to explore the potential to adapt existing frameworks to facilitate the quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time, the research adopted a focus group technique with experienced stakeholders in Australia and England. Qualitative research is inductive and hypothesis generating. That is; as the research assimilates knowledge and information contained in the literature ideas and questions are formed, which are put to research participants and from this process conclusions are drawn.

It is technologically feasible to collect data on sustainability measures within the building approvals systems in Victoria and NSW Australia and England and Wales and a conceptual model is proposed. Economically, costs need to be covered, and it is unclear which group should pay. Socially, the benefits would be to determine how society is progressing towards goals. The benefits of achieving reduced carbon emissions would be mitigation of the predicted changes to climate and informing society of progress. Politically, it is unlikely there is a will to make provisions for this proposal in existing regulatory systems.

The key limitations of the research were that the views expressed are those of a select group of experienced practitioners and may not represent the consensus view of the professions and industry as a whole. The limitations and criticisms of focus group data collection are that the sessions may be dominated by individuals holding strong views.

The findings show that adaptation of the existing data collected by building control authorities could allow some quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time. A simple initial system could be implemented with relative ease to ascertain the value of the data. Over time the system could be extended to collect more data that could facilitate more precise quantification of sustainability. Significantly policy makers would have a tool that would allow them to measure the success or otherwise of mandatory and voluntary measures introduced to increase the uptake of sustainability.

To date, no one has considered the practicality or potential utility of adapting existing information gathered for building approval purposes for the quantification of the up-take of sustainability across the whole stock over time. The value of using building approval data are that all building types are required to have building approvals prior to work being undertaken.

Introduction New Building Regulations came into force in November 1985 and NHBC Building Control Services Ltd was granted Approved Inspector status by the Secretary of State for the Environment.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the perspective provided by stage models and examine the wider contexts in which government service transformation occurs. Traditional stage models of e-government have been criticised as being too narrowly focussed suggesting that government services are transformed by information and communications technology (ICT) in a linear manner.

Government service transformation involves the interplay of a multitude of social and technical factors over time. We propose that an appreciation of the wider institutional, political and economic contexts is necessary and develop a framework of government service transformation in terms of the locus of context and focus of the change initiative. This framework is illustrated with reference to a case study of the transformation of the building approvals process in Singapore over two decades.

Application of the framework to the case study illustrates that government service transformation is not a linear progression and is influenced by decisions and factors related to both inner and outer contexts.

While bringing institutional theory to extend analyses of service transformation, the reconstruction of events in the case study presented does not provide a rich enough data set for a full analysis of the institutional forces at play.

Managers of e-government initiatives can use the dimensions of the framework to assess their progress, as new technologies emerge and policy priorities change.

The framework presented in the paper provides a complement to existing models for examining e-government transformation and brings a theoretically based perspective to government service transformation which is lacking in existing stage models.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the legal liability of local authorities in New Zealand for the issue of building consents and inspection, in respect of domestic homes where the property proves to be faulty. A local authority may be liable for economic loss. The duty of care extends to the owners of multi‐unit dwellings, but not commercial buildings. A ten year longstop for claims from council approvals applies. Problems with leaky homes have given rise to a substantial number of claims. A government response has been to provide a mediation service, and to assume liability for a percentage of repair costs.

The history of liability of local authorities for negligence in respect of building approvals is assessed, through examination of the statute law and the common law principles.

The findings of liability of local authorities in New Zealand is compared to the legal position in the UK. Conclusions are drawn as to legal and practical outcomes.

Changes under the law have occurred within the last year and the study is original in assessing the legal position and future outcomes. The liability for leaky homes is a major issue in the country.

This study aims to explore how the shift from traditional to digital banking transforms the nature of trust between banks and their younger clients (aged 18–35) from the perspective of bank employees.

Qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives of Ukrainian classical banks and neobanks were conducted. The interviews were analysed using the theoretical approach of institution-based and social network-based trust to identify the key distinctions between the nature of trust in traditional and digital banking.

The employees of the banks reported that digitalization processes have helped to mitigate trust issues; as a result, their banks have not experienced any difficulties in this regard among young people. Furthermore, social networks, particularly social approval, were found to be significant factors for establishing trust in digital banking among young people.

The results of this study could assist bank managers in adapting their strategies for cultivating trust among younger clients and aiding international law regulators and government institutions in preventing unintended circumstances in financial services. These contributions were shaped by the study’s limitations, including its focus on only two concepts of trust building: institution-based and social network-based, as well as its specific Ukrainian context.

This study highlights social approval as a valuable constituent of the trust-building process that influences trust in institutions. Furthermore, while gaining social approval – particularly through digital platforms – can promote trust-building among young people, this “easy way” may have negative societal consequences by endorsing unscrupulous institutions.

Malaysia’s building regulation is mainly based on the Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL) 1984 which provides guidelines on the procedures for building plans approval and other means of development control. However, the application of these by-laws varies between local authorities, as they are gazetted by different state governments. The formulation of UBBL 1984 which was originally formulated to address the need for a standardized set of building regulations for the country is now perceived as inconsistent and complex. Therefore, this research attempts to examine the discrepancies between state by-laws, particularly Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and national UBBL 1984.

Critical review of the content of the UBBL (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) 1985 and national UBBL 1984 was carried out to pinpoint discrepancies between the two by-laws.

Differences between national UBBL and Kuala Lumpur By-laws fall into four main categories particularly terminology, prescriptive requirements, presence of terms and by-laws. Three editorial spelling and typing errors were also found in the national UBBL 1984. It is argued that the errors and differences lead to confusion and pose unnecessary regulatory burden to the construction industry which ultimately discourage people to disobey the rules. The identified discrepancies between these by-laws showed an urgent need to review the current building by-laws considering today’s technologies, norms and citizen needs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of many fruitful contributions that examine discrepancies between by-laws that govern building control matters in Malaysia. Although centred on legislation in Malaysia, the findings are relevant for governments around the world working towards improving public service delivery.

This study aims to understand the impacts of the Minor Works Control System (MWCS) on the performance of minor works contractors following its implementation in 2011, and specifically the initiatives adopted by minor works contractors in response to the new building control regime. Suggestions are made for the further improvement of the MWCS. Like many Western countries and Asian counterparts, Hong Kong has recently implemented a new building control system (the MWCS), which aims to restructure the building proposal approval process and shift the responsibility for building control from the public to the private sector. The effectiveness of the MWCS has been strongly questioned by the industry and the public.

A mixed method including a questionnaire survey (quantitative) and focus group discussions (qualitative) was adopted to provide an initial evaluation of the impact of the MWCS on practitioners and the industry.

The results suggest that implementation of the new control system has helped increase safety awareness and the technical capacity of minor works contractors. Despite these benefits, registered contractors are encountering challenges under the MWCS, such as manpower arrangement problems and higher business operating costs. Initiatives that include maintaining a sound financial background, an adequate in-house supervisory staff and a safe working environment are considered critical by practitioners to maintain their competitive edge under the new control regime.

This study is one of the first studies in Hong Kong to evaluate the impact of the new building control system. The feedback and suggestions provided by the practitioners and experts during the research provide valuable insights for the government on how to provide support to practitioners under the MWCS to achieve a better built environment in Hong Kong.

Obtaining building permit certificate is an essential component of construction endeavors, but it can be cumbersome sometimes. The process is frequently beset with obstacles, including bureaucratic impediments, red-tapism, prolonged authorization protocols and insufficient inter-agency collaboration which result in project timeline extension, cost escalation and applicant dissatisfaction. Therefore, this study aims to examine customer satisfaction with the assessment of building construction permit certificates in Lalitpur, Nepal.

Following the notion of evaluation model theory, this study adopts an explanatory research design to determine the causal relationship between latent and observed variables. People who have recently completed the construction of their building and those people whose construction work is pending make up the population for the study. A total of 198 samples were collected by following the convenience sampling method from Lalitpur, Nepal. The primary data are collected by using the structured questionnaire with the interview process where the data are statistically evaluated using descriptive and inferential analysis using the KOBO toolbox, SPSS and AMOS. The connection between variables was examined using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Results indicate that the negligence of the employees, the attitude of the employees, the need for additional costs and the hiring of the agent are the most significant obstacles encountered by customers during the process of getting construction permit. Regarding the whole assessment system, the general population expresses displeasure. SEM results indicate that environment and quality are significantly related to customer satisfaction.

This paper's novelty lies in its Nepal-specific inquiry into the relationship between building permit acquisition procedures and customer contentment. The study provides a distinctive viewpoint on this context by combining evaluation model theory and SEM. The localized approach emphasizes the importance of customized strategies to improve customer satisfaction, adding to the current literature on the subject. The study's use of SEM as a quantitative analysis tool enhances its methodological rigor. This interdisciplinary research offers valuable insights for academics, practitioners and policymakers in Nepal and contributes to the wider field of construction and customer satisfaction.

This paper asks what was the state of building-code enforcement and citizen – government collaboration in disaster preparedness when an earthquake hit Kathmandu metropolitan city (KMC) in 2015? It reviewed government documents, analyzed media reports, interviewed building-code monitoring officers and carried out a detailed case study of the earthquake-damaged Park View Horizon Housing Apartment (PVHA) Complex. The research found several earthquake-resilience issues. They were enforcement-vulnerability (Building bylaws, planning permit and building code); institutional-coordination vulnerability; Apartment-regulation vulnerability; technological vulnerability; and citizen-government-collaboration vulnerability.

The study area of this research is KMC, and this research is based on content analysis, field observation and interview. It has reviewed all the newspapers and media reports that had covered earthquake issues during and after the 2015 disaster, as well as the articles published in Nepal, South Asia, the USA, New Zealand and Haiti. The literature on Nepal’s building code, seismic history and institutional arrangements for governing earthquake-related issues were reviewed. After field observation of some of the damaged apartments, a detailed case study of PVHA Complex was carried out.

The research found several earthquake-resilience issues. They were enforcement-vulnerability (Building bylaws, planning permit and building code); institutional-coordination vulnerability; Apartment-regulation vulnerability; technological vulnerability; and citizen-government-collaboration vulnerability

A limitation of this study was its heavy reliance on content analysis, one case study and a few interviews and discussions with affected residents, local governments and developers.

This study would help enhance disaster governance in developing nations.

The citizen–government collaborative approach to earthquake resilience would enhance human resilience to disaster at individual and community levels.

Since this is the first research carried out on the state of building code and institutional resilience at the time of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, it is original and provides policy insights for earthquake resilience in Nepal.