Enforcing bulding regulations: private versus public responsibilities

Building regulations should guarantee that newly built buildings are safe and healthy for the users and visitors. Many countries make additional demands concerning comfort, accessibility, energy efficiency and sustainability. The building regulatory system consists in general of a set of technical requirements and a set of administrative regulations. The latter determines the building permit and control procedures. In Europe traditionally governmental bodies play a central role in formulating and enforcing the regulations. However in a growing number of European countries private parties within the building sector take over some of these enforcement tasks. The reasons for this development differ. In the Netherlands alternatives for local authority building control are sought because doubts have arisen about the effectiveness and efficiency of the control. In some other countries however the changes are motivated by more positive reasons. This paper addresses on the public versus private responsibilities for inspection and control of the building regulations. The paper is based on the results of a research project in which the system of building control of eight European countries (Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) were compared. The material has been updated and extended with an investigation of the Australian building control system. Central question is what are the preconditions and ingredients for an effective and efficient building control system?