Building Control to put price on design competency. The RIBA has welcomed proposals that would recognise design competency when setting charges for Building Control, one of the revisions put forward as part of a consultation on a new charging system.
The proposals seek to introduce more flexibility and discretion, remove some restrictions and ambiguities, and would allow local authorities to relate charges more accurately to the actual costs of carrying out building control functions.
Keith Snook, RIBA Director of Research and Technical, says the changes should introduce a fair system with greater transparency, with improved competition between local authorities and approved inspectors.
‘Many members say that they would like to see some kind of regulation of function, but we all know that this is never likely to happen,’ says Snook. ‘However we are delighted to see that one of the proposals is that the charging should take account of the competency of the design team as a function of setting charges. This has to be particularly good news for our professionals.’
The RIBA’s full response can be viewed at the Regulations and Standards Knowledge Community.

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