A Conservative government would revise the Building Regulations, shadow energy and climate change minister Greg Barker has told BSD

Barker said that under Labour “building regulations have been unnecessarily prescriptive and overly complex”.

The Conservatives wanted to focus on “outcomes rather than boxticking”, he said, although he would not be drawn on precisely what form revisions would take.

This is the latest in a string of environmental policy initiatives by the Conservatives as they court the public before the next election.

Bill Bordass, director of the Usable Buildings Trust, said: “There are so many parts to the Building Regulations; if you tackle them all simultaneously you… run the risk of stifling innovation. There is certainly an argument for simplification.”

But Emma Marchant, a senior environmental designer at Atelier Ten, said: “Barker hasn’t outlined any solid alternative. Buildings are complex and different, there is no one-size-fits-all.”

Building Regulations minister Lord McKenzie said: “The regulations are vital in protecting lives and improving the quality of our buildings.”

Source

Building Sustainable Design