Murtagh, NM;
Achkar, L;
Roberts, A;
(2016)
"To encourage people to think" – The power of building control inspectors in sustainable construction.
In: Dastbaz, M and Gorse, C, (eds.)
Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS): Selected Papers from the Second International Conference.
Leeds Beckett University: Leeds, UK.
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Abstract
In England, national building regulations govern aspects of a building’s environmental performance. Compliance with the regulations is assessed by Building Control Inspectors who review designs and inspect on-site construction. However, little research has been carried out previously to investigate the role of these professionals in sustainable construction. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 building inspectors and four key informants from relevant professional bodies in England. Half of the building inspectors were based in private firms and half in local authorities. The building inspectors tended to position their power as wholly derived from the regulations. However, this stood in contrast to their descriptions of day-to-day activities and objectives which included providing advice and guidance, effective membership of design teams and a collaborative relationship with contractors/builders, architects and members of the public. Application of French and Raven’s (1959; Raven 1992) typology of power demonstrates that, in fact, other bases of power are available to, and are used by, building inspectors. Beyond the ‘reward’ and ‘coercive’ bases intrinsic to certification and regulation, and the ‘formal legitimate’ power of their legislative role, the building inspectors also deploy ‘expert’ and ‘informational’ power. The primary conclusion is that, with greater recognition of the varied bases of influence available to them, building inspectors could extend their influence in daily working interactions to optimise environmental design solutions.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | "To encourage people to think" – The power of building control inspectors in sustainable construction |
| Event: | International SEEDS Conference 2016 |
| Location: | Leeds |
| Dates: | 14 September 2016 - 15 September 2016 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-0-9955690-1-0 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/leeds-sustainabilit... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | building control, building regulations, social influence |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett Sch of Const and Proj Mgt |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10067337 |
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