Ta'i, Behnam (1994) Critical evaluation of stormwater management practices on urban construction sites in the Sydney region. PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
International awareness of the importance of conservation of the environment over the last two decades has led to the enactment of numerous environmental laws, particularly in developed nations. This study evaluates an aspect of the extent to which these intentions are achieving the objective of abating environmental deterioration. The thesis examines developers' levels of compliance with NSW Soil Conservation Service erosion control guidelines for urban construction sites, in the Sydney Region. It evaluates not only levels of compliance with guidelines but also identifies attitudes that are responsible for variation in levels of compliance. Three sets of data from three different surveys were analysed and evaluated. The first involved evaluation of 68 construction sites in the Sydney Region, where seven Soil Conservationists over a period of six months assisted the author to evaluate construction sites on the basis of a specially devised checklist. The second focussed on developers' attitudes towards erosion control guidelines and 96 developers from the Region were surveyed. The third examined the views of 55 local government officials who are responsible for the enforcement of the guidelines. The findings of this thesis have established that the existing mechanism of erosion control on urban construction sites is thoroughly inadequate. Over 75 per cent of the construction sites evaluated do not adequately comply with the requirements of erosion control guidelines. This was found to be due to a perception held by most developers that soil loss from construction sites was not an environmental problem and the benefit of implementing erosion control guidelines did not exceed the cost. Survey data also show that most councils did not have a clear policy of implementing erosion control guidelines for urban construction sites, particularly in respect of site inspection and enforcement of conditions of consent. The survey data confirm the truism that enactment of legislation is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Legislation alone can do very little to attain the ultimate objective of abating environmental degradation, if it is not enforced and if it is unable to change attitudes that have caused environmental deterioration. The thesis concludes with proposed directions for future research and recommendations that policy makers may implement to improve the existing situation.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Murphy, Peter |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction site; compliance; conservation; deterioration; erosion control; government; legislation; local government; policy; developer; Sydney; Australia |
| Index terms: | conservation, enforcement, Australia, inspection, environmental degradation, stormwater, soil conservation, variation, management practice, survey, construction site, local government, compliance, erosion control, deterioration, legislation |
| Subjects: | land management, contractual condition, Geography, health safety and environment, management, quality assurance, environmental engineering, administrative law, environmental impact, data collection methods, material degradation and durability, legal systems, work location, environmental policy |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Legal Issues, Contract Administration, Site Management, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Construction Materials, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here