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free second hand kitchen cupboard doors, taps and bathroom white goods, left
over insulation etc. have all found their way to my site.
’
Figure 9: Perception of obstacles to the development of the pathfinder houses
The building regulations, was not perceived as an obstacle by the designers and builders
of the pilot project; however, for the eco-house it was considered as one of the most
significant obstacles, with a rating of six (see Fig. 9). The reason for the building
regulations high rating by the designer/builder of the eco-house was described as
follows:
‘Basically I think that building regs although its not prescriptive; although it should
really be about basic principles; building control officers, in my experience, are
very heavily rooted in what they know and understand. What they like are
standardised solutions… I think in terms of low impact development its a real
sticking point. What's being imposed by the Welsh Assembly in terms of policy is
completely unrelated to what is happening on the ground its a completely
different approach and its not marrying up.’
With regard to the pilot project and the role of the building regulations as an obstacle the
low ratings (with six of the seven participants giving it a rating of three or less) (see Fig.
9) perhaps reflecting the fact that the ‘tried and tested’ solution adopted for this scheme
was in keeping with the standardised solutions favoured by building control officers (as
argued above). However, the low ratings also perhaps indicate that the stricter
requirements set the CfSH have replaced building regulations as a legislative obstacle,
as explained below:
‘I mentioned earlier it was almost looked upon that the building regulations is
something we tend to achieve as the norm. The code is the thing that seemed to
focus attention... I didn't see building regulations as being a major obstacle.’
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Development Costs
Availability of specialist Construction Skills
Availability of specialist materials/components
Availability of local materials
The procurement route
Lack of knowledge of the design team
Lack of knowledge of the construction team
Building Regulations
Local Planning Controls
Planning Regulations - National
Planning Regulations - Regional
How do you rate the following as obstacles to the development of the pathfinder
houses?
EcoHouse Respondent
Respondent 1
Respondent 2
Respondent 3
Respondent 4
Respondent 5
Respondent 6
Respondent 7
