Shiers, D; Lavers, A and Keeping, M (2007) Indicators of the impact of environmental factors on UK construction law: Developments in the new millennium. Construction Management and Economics, 25(7), pp. 821-829. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
In examining the impact of environmental issues on construction law, recent construction-related legislation and litigation can be seen as indicators of the growing importance of specific property-related environmental issues. Through reference to relevant literature and law reports, several recent legal developments can be identified relating to energy production and consumption, water inundation, the physical qualities of buildings, excluded materials, noise and disability discrimination and, finally, waste disposal and contamination. Recent law relating to energy consumption in buildings is evidence of the ever-widening set of legal obligations regarding energy efficiency. Similarly, recent litigation relating to nuclear waste and wind farms may be more typical of future energy cases than those relating to traditional fossil fuel production processes. Noise represents another form of environmental pollution and has been seen in a number of cases. The impact of the built environment on people with disabilities is now recognized in Part M of the Building Regulations which places additional disabled access requirements on all building owners, landlords, employers and service providers. Property professionals, local authorities and statutory authorities need, more than ever before, to be aware of their current legal obligations while remaining constrained by resource and financial management regulation.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction law; environment; liability |
| Index terms: | energy efficiency, financial management, building regulation, landlord, pollution, owner, construction law, litigation, energy consumption, contamination, built environment, fossil fuel, legislation, disabled, environmental issue, liability, local authority, statutory authorities, production process, evidence, regulation, environmental factor, consumption, waste disposal, discrimination, disability |
| Subjects: | sustainability and energy, environmental science, legal systems, energy systems, economic analysis, evaluation and assessment methods, consumer economics, environmental issues, dispute resolution, health conditions and diseases, sociology, administrative law, professional ethics, infrastructure and transport systems, construction law, regulatory law, liability law, environmental health, environmental engineering, political science, manufacturing engineering |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Sustainability, Governance, Regulations & Compliance, Stakeholder Management, Ethics, Legal Issues, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
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