Murtagh, N; Achkar, L and Roberts, A (2018) The role of building control surveyors and their power in promoting sustainable construction. Construction Management and Economics, 36(7), pp. 363-374. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
In England, building regulations govern aspects of a building’s environmental performance. The Building Control Surveyor reviews designs and on-site construction in order to evaluate, and ultimately certify, compliance with the regulations, but little research has been carried out to investigate the role of these professionals in promoting sustainable construction. A qualitative study was conducted, comprising semi-structured interviews with 21 building control surveyors and 4 key informants from professional bodies in England. The building surveyors initially positioned their power as wholly derived from the regulations, thus constraining their contribution on sustainability to regulation enforcement. However, this stood in contradiction to their recognition of being valued and influential members of the project team. Descriptions of day-to-day activities included sharing common goals with the team, providing guidance based on their knowledge and experience, and developing collaborative relationships. Based on theories of power, these practices may be seen as processes of power. The primary conclusion is that building control surveyors are indeed powerful in the project team, and, with greater recognition of the varied forms of power available to them above and beyond regulatory certification, they could extend their influence in daily working interactions to promote more sustainable construction.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building control; building regulations; social influence; social power; sustainable construction |
| Index terms: | qualitative study, building regulation, environmental performance, England, building control surveyor, enforcement, interaction, project team, building surveyor, interview, compliance, certification, sustainable construction, building control, regulation |
| Subjects: | health safety and environment, Geography, sustainable construction, sustainability assessment, administrative processes, regulatory law, behavioral psychology, political science, data collection methods, profession, research design and methodology, project delivery |
| Topics: | Governance, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Contract Administration, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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