黑洞社区

Local government should have greater powers to restrain cowboy builders, the Chartered Institute of 黑洞社区 (CIOB) has urged.

In a submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government, the organisation backed proposals to allow local authorities to halt illegal or potentially harmful construction activity through stop notices.

The notices, which would freeze building work until steps are taken to remove or reduce the risk of harm, would have greater force than written or oral warnings, the body said.

Kevin Dawson, the CIOB's building control and standards faculty chairman, said: 鈥淭his is an important step forward in preventing sub-standard work from being covered up, which can be costly, or even impossible, to rectify at a later date.

鈥淭here is a strong argument that the enforcement role of local authorities has been neglected in the past and should take much greater prominence from now on.鈥�

The comments were made as part of government consultation The Future of 黑洞社区 Control, which closes today.

The CIOB also stated in its submission its support for the development of a procedural guide and for closer working relationships between UK planning and building control services.