Suchergebnisse

The purpose of this paper is to compare technical building regulations in European Union (EU) countries. Three research questions are addressed: what are the main differences and similarities? what are the main types of organization and formulation? what are the main trends and developments? The following tasks were carried out in order to provide an answer to these questions: preparing a questionnaire and obtaining answers from experts of EU countries, collecting and analysing main building regulations, and comparing results. The results are that, in the majority of the EU countries, central authorities are involved in setting technical building regulations, however the involvement of regional and local authorities varies. Technical building regulations can be set in one main document, a coordinated group of documents or separated legal documents. The formulation adopted for most subjects is performance based, combined with functional or prescriptive requirements for specific subjects. Only in England and Wales have technical building regulations a pure functional formulation. Few countries have official documents with deemed to satisfy solutions. The building regulations include the main subjects (i.e. safety, health, practicability and energy saving), but several countries have no requirements on environmental protection. In the majority of the EU countries, direct references to specific standards are made, but standards are not accessible free of charge. There is not a pattern in the way that building regulations apply to construction works in existing buildings. The main conclusions drawn from the study were that there are five main types of organization and formulation of technical building regulations in the EU countries, as follows: 1) one document with functional requirements and a coordinated group of documents with deemed to satisfy solutions; 2) one document with performance requirements; 3) one document with prescriptive requirements and new performance regulations on specific subjects; 4) a set of coordinated documents with performance requirements; and, 5) separated legal documents mainly with performance requirements combined with some prescriptive requirements. Although there are exceptions, a regional distribution was observed in the countries that adopt each type. ; 10 tabelas ; 231 p. (12 p.) ; DED/NAU ; 2010 ; 10 a 13 may

Building regulations set minimum requirements for safe, healthy, energy-efficient and accessible buildings. To guarantee that these requirements are applied, a building control system is indispensable. The trend towards a common market for construction products and services justifies gaining a better insight into the building control systems in the European Union (EU). This paper presents a comparison of the building permit procedures adopted in the 27 EU countries. To collect the necessary information, a questionnaire on building regulatory systems was distributed to national experts in each country and the major legal documents were reviewed. The information was organized in thematic tables containing all the countries. The main conclusion is that the organization of a regular building permit procedure is similar in the EU countries. No major differences were found concerning the several steps it takes to get a building permit and to carry out a construction work: pre-consultation, possibility of phasing, submission demands, checks carried out and maximum procedure time for plan approval, possibility and moment to object to a building permit being issued, start of construction works, frequency and moment of site inspections, fees, and completion of construction works. The main differences concern detail aspects in several of these steps. There is one basic type of building permit procedure in countries from continental Europe. The United Kingdom countries are those presenting more deviations from the common pattern. These deviations aim to reduce the burden of administrative aspects, while ensuring good levels of compliance. In the last 10 to 15 years, the dominant trends identified in the building permit procedure were a decrease in the types of construction works submitted to building authorities' control during plan approval, and the reduction in the maximum building permit procedure times. Building authorities' control during the construction phase has remained unchanged. Altogether, there is a movement towards simpler and faster building permit procedures. For the near future, no major changes are expected in the building permit procedures. ; 15 tabelas ; 415-438 p, ; DED/NAU ; 2011 ; 12-13 september

Building regulations set minimum requirements for safe, healthy, energy-efficient and accessible buildings. To guarantee that these requirements are applied, a building control system is indispensable. The trend towards a common market for construction products and services justifies gaining better insight into the building control systems in the European Union. This paper presents a comparison of the tasks and responsibilities of public and private parties in the building control systems of the 27 European Union countries. To gather the necessary information, a questionnaire on building regulatory systems was distributed to national experts in each country, and the major legal documents were reviewed. The information was organized in thematic tables that contain all the countries. The themes are as follows: regulatory framework, application, plan approval, site inspection, completion and supervision. The main conclusion is that the building control systems of EU countries have many similarities. Public parties set the regulatory framework, check planning demands, issue building permits, conduct final inspections, grant completion certificates and supervise the system. The main difference concerns the involvement of private parties in checking technical requirements and in site inspections. Three basic types of building control systems were identified: public building control, mixed building control and dual building control. The majority of the countries have mixed systems. Although several variations were found among the mixed systems, the most common situation is for public parties to check the technical requirements and private parties to be involved in site inspections. Additional uniformity among building control systems would help to support a single market for services in the construction industry, in which architects, developers and builders are no longer limited to working within national markets. ; 14 quad. ; 17 p. ; DED/NAU ; 2009 ; 10 and 11 September