1. LO1: Understand the origins and purpose of building control
Learning Outcome
LO1: Understand the origins and purpose of building control
Today’s Objective
Be able to explain the origins of the building regulations
Illustrate timeline developments
Examine the purpose of the changes

2. Development of building standards
Review the worksheets!

3. Development of building standards
Give out timeline worksheet

4. Development of building standards
First known building regulations
Hammurabi was the ruler who established the great nation-state of Babylon (in modern day Iraq), the world's first metropolis. The Code of Hammurabi was carved upon a black stone monument and dates back to 1772 BC.
Hammurabi’s Code also gave the world the first written Building Codes. They were unusually simplistic by today’s standards, but very matter-of-fact. There were not many lawyers in those days to haggle over the details.
Babylonian law on clay tablets

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Hammurabi’s Code
228. If a builder build a house for some one and complete it, he shall give him a fee of two shekels in money for each sar of surface.
229. If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.
231. If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the house.
232. If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.
233. If a builder build a house for some one, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.”

6. Development of building standards
Development of Building Regulations in Britain
The British Isles has a long history of legal controls on building construction - which began in London. A set of building regulations is attributed to the year
The greatest hazard was fire and after a major fire in in London in 1212, 3000 people lost their lives and thatched roof’s were banned by the city's first mayor, Henry Fitzalwyn.
Other cities gradually followed London's lead. In 1391 Bristol had a viewer who inspected buildings for encroachments onto the street. Worcester's ordinances of 1467 showed concern for the dangers of fire.

7. Development of building standards
Yet timber framing remained popular for centuries.
As the population grew, space was at a premium within city walls. Storey was piled upon storey. By the end of the Middle Ages tall, jettied timber houses overhung narrow streets in many a town and city.
London’s Townhouses

8. Development of building standards
, which killed four people but wiped out 80% of the city.
It was this pattern that fuelled the Great Fire of London in 1666.
How much of the city do you think was destroyed?
How many people do you think died?

9. Great fire of London film

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Great Plague
The Great Plague (1665–66) was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague
It killed an estimated 100,000 people
There was no sanitation and open drains flowed along the centre of winding streets. The cobbles were slippery with animal dung, garbage and the slops thrown out of the houses, muddy and buzzing with flies in summer and awash with sewage in winter.
The City Corporation employed "rakers" to remove the worst of the filth and it was transported to mounds outside the walls where it accumulated and continued to decompose.
When someone died, a bell was rung and a "searcher of the dead" arrived to inspect the corpse to determine the cause of death. Searchers were ignorant, venal old women who were paid a pittance for each report they made to the clerk who kept the records. In the case of a plague death, a searcher might be bribed to mis-state the true cause of death. This was because the infected house of a plague victim had, by law, to be shut up for forty days quarantine with all other members of the household inside. A plague house was marked with a red cross on the door with the words "Lord have mercy upon us", and a watchman stood guard outside

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The plague

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Building Issues
What building and social issues did the plague and fire of London of 1665 and 1666 highlight?
Combustible materials
Building proximity
Lack of ventilation
Open sewerage

13. Development of building standards
Building Acts
That disaster led to the London Building Act of 1667, the first to provide for surveyors to enforce its regulations (incidentally, the first building codes in the USA, were established in 1625 and addressed fire safety and materials for roof coverings).
By the 18th century some kind of building control had been established in many British cities. The London Building Acts provided prototypes for provincial towns.
In the early Victorian period central government became concerned about the conditions of the urban poor. Outbreaks of cholera created alarm. A series of government inquiries identified problems of overcrowding, lack of water and sanitation. Home Secretary Lord Normanby proposed a national building Act in 1841, to apply to all borough councils in the British Isles. The bill failed.

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Public Health Acts
It was a series of Public Health Acts that established a more consistent apparatus for controlling the urban fabric. The first such Act in 1848 had limited impact on buildings, but laid out the framework of local authority in England and Wales, known initially as boards of health.
The Local Government Act of 1858 extended the powers of these local authorities to regulate the structure of buildings through bye-laws. The government issued a set of guidelines called the Form of Bye-laws, which were followed quite closely by most English and Welsh urban authorities in the 1860s. The Public Health Act of 1875 and associated Model Bye-laws consolidated building control

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Public Health Acts
This burst of Victorian regulation generated records of great value for the historian. The Act of 1858 permitted local boards in England and Wales to require the deposit of plans for any new buildings or alterations.
Many of these plans survive in local record offices. The catalogue of Cardiff's impressive collection is online at Cardiff: The building of a capital.

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Building By-laws
By-laws are laws that relate to specific issues in the local community.
In 1905 model byelaws were written firstly for urban areas and later for rural and then intermediate byelaws for sub-urban areas.
local authorities were urged to update byelaws on lines of these models.
However, it still allowed for local differences which could prove difficult for architects and builders
Today the Building Regulations takes legislative precedence if there is a conflict with a local by-law, because it is backed by an Act of Parliament.

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Public Health Act 1936
The Public Health Act in 1936 brought in new model bye-laws, but as before they were simply guidelines. So requirements could vary from one authority to another.
However this Act provided the basis for future building regulations and some of its contents still applies today.

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Byelaws from 1936 Act
Current Approved Document A: Structure

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1961 Public Health Act
This Act made amendments to the 1936 Act and for the first time enabled the Minister to write “Building Regulations”.

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Building Regulations 1965
In 1965 the first Building Regulations were introduced, however, they were not national; England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland having their own versions. While the city of London was still governed by the London Building Acts.
Therefore the desire to have “national” rules was not achieved.

21. Development of building standards
Ronan Point 1968
A 22 storey block of flats “progressively collapsed” following a gas explosion.
Rules governing this were later introduced and now called disproportionate collapse.
The partial collapse of Ronan Point led to major changes in the building regulations. The first of these came with the 5th Amendment to the Building Regulations in These are now embodied in Part A of the Building Regulations and cover Disproportionate Collapse.
Immediately after the publication of the report the Government brought out interim measures to ensure the safety and integrity of buildings in the event of an explosion. All new buildings constructed after November 1968 and over 5 storeys were required to be able to resist an explosive force of 3.4×104 Pa (5psi). Existing buildings were allowed to resist an explosive force of 1.7×104 Pa (2.5psi), provided that the gas supply was removed and flats were refitted for electric cooking and heating.
You tube Clip

22. Development of building standards
Disproportionate Collapse - AD A

23. Development of building standards
Arab Oil Crisis 1973
As a result of the Yom Kippur war the Arab states enforced an oil embargo which resulted in the cost of oil quadrupling to 12$ a barrel.
Governments worldwide are held to ransom – the outcome - legislation will follow to reduce energy expenditure.

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U Value Changes

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U Value Changes

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Building Act 1984
This Act consolidated many of the previous Acts and enabled the Minister to write new building regulations and make changes to the administration of fire precautions.

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Building Regulations 1985
The purpose of the regulations is principally “to secure the health, safety and welfare in and around buildings”.
The previous editions of the regulations were principally written for lawyers as any dispute between owner, builder and authority usually landed up in the courts.
This edition incorporating “approved documents” for the first time contained illustrations to make the comprehension of the regulations easier.

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Building Regulations 1985: Approved Documents
This edition introduced less prescriptive regulations by introducing booklets providing technical guidance showing how to comply with the regulations.
Practical guidance on how to comply with the Building Regulations is provided within 'Approved documents'.
Architects and builders could follow these or choose their own method/s but would need to prove compliance with the regulations.
In addition responsibility for fire safety passed to the Building control departments.

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Amendments
There have been regular amendments to these regulations e.g. fire, sound, thermal, access, electrics.
There will continue to be amendments as technology improves, climate changes and other external factors exert their influence e.g. economics

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Amendments
Building Regulations Legislation 2010
Note

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Devolution
Building regulation powers were devolved to Wales on 31 December 2011.
The documents current on 31 December 2011 will continue to apply to Wales.
As guidance is reviewed and changes made, they will publish separate Approved Documents.

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Devolution

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The future? Who knows…

34. Development of building standards
Complete the question sheet
Any other queries?

35. Development of building standards
References

36. Development of building standards
Review the question sheets!

37. Development of building standards
Assignment P1
Examine the factors that have influenced the historical development of building control
Task:
Produce a written report examine the factors that have influenced the historical development of building control, explaining their significance.
You should begin your report by explaining the meaning of building control, then discuss the various historical events that have influenced today’s building regulations.