ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø

In fact, it was a near certainty that as the ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Regulations increased in number, complexity and scope over the past five years, the institutional arrangements for enforcing them would crumble. The question is, how on earth do you put them right?

The government is in a hurry to find an answer to this problem (page 42). The reason is that Part L of the regulations has become an essential element in the implementation of policy on climate change. ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø control departments are struggling to police this because their job has always been to ensure that buildings are safe. Measuring their energy efficiency has taken second place, and to do it effectively, a sharp increase in training and staff will be required.

Clearly a shake-up is in order, but unless the government is careful it could replace a system in need of repair with one that doesn’t work at all. A proposal being considered is a wholesale move towards self-certification. This would certainly be convenient, as it would shift the responsibility for checking compliance to those doing the work. Self-certification is all very well with discrete elements, such as windows: performance is easy to measure and can be overseen by strong trade bodies. Not so with something like Part L, which cuts across everything from ventilation to building materials. Besides, judging by our feature, the industry is unanimous in calling for third-party checking. It’s worth considering, too, the experience of Norway, where self-certification has been disastrous and the government is reverting to a system of independent third-party policing.

That’s not to say that building control can’t be detached from the public sector, allowed to set its own fees and stand or fall by the quality of its service. But who’d police the domestic sector, where cowboys are rife and fees low? As a first fix, increasing resources to allow inspectors to do their jobs properly, and even giving them a site safety role, too, should be seriously considered.

Two cheers for the Tories

If we are called to the ballot box in November, housing is going to be a key battleground. This week in Blackpool the Tories showed more of their hand on the subject, with sound proposals to scrap home information packs and waive stamp duty for first-time buyers – a popular move with the public, according to a YouGov poll (page 13). Ditching density requirements is also attractive, particularly as it has led to half of new homes taking the form of flats. Where the Tories are left wanting is the whole issue of how they would get more homes built. Ideas such as placating nimbys by tying planning approval with more funding for schools and hospitals, while very jolly, sound distinctly naive.