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building control jobs in England were privatised a few years ago with obvious implications
Didn't quite get this. So it used to be that inspections were done by civil servants but now you will have to hire independent surveyors? And in the privatisation process one also removed certain obligations to have the surveys done? The motivations of stingy landlords to avoid inspections is obvious, but where are the insurance companies in all of this?
starfish&coffee-
I think its implied that private contractors might not be quite as impartial as civil servants - especially towards larger developers who might work with the same inspectors on different sites over a number of months / years, or that the basic requirement to make money on a job means that there are temptations to cut corners
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I recently had a loft conversion. Building Control was provided by a company chosen by the loft conversion company. A company that probably wants lots of repeat business.
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It's privatisation by the back door. Now there are 'Independent Inspection Officers' to 'promote competition' and the supposed advantage of using them is that (whilst often more expensive) is that they are 'more flexible' on a range of issues. So public control departments still exist, but big developers etc don't use them and normally employ their own as they can just self-certify on the quality of work that's been done, compliance etc.
As I said, since this system has been brought in, the number of instances of contractors being denied certification or instructed to undertake remedial work has slumped to zero. Which anyone might think is quite strange...
branwen
jellybaby
deleted
lols at the Mail ttrying to blame green regulations.
My partner used to be a surveyor in London and says that building control jobs in England were privatised a few years ago with obvious implications: all of a sudden the number of control orders drops to zero which if people are doing their jobs is impossible. It's that lovely Tory "cutting red tape" in action and I hope they are forever crucified for it.