Public service building control worth £1.85bn say academics

The net economic benefit of public service building control interventions in construction projects could be as high as £1.85 billion.

That’s the view of academics at the University of Wolverhampton who have calculated this figure as part of a review of building control social return on investment.

LABC commissioned the University of Wolverhampton to provide it with a formal academic review of Building Control Social Return on Investment.

The review looked at different ways of measuring value, establishing a methodology and studied existing published papers and other research to estimate the scale of the financial values involved.

The academics found for 90,000 plans assessed by LABC in 2016/17, the net economic benefit or social return on investment could be as high as £1.85 billion per year.

Commenting Paul Everall, LABC Chief Executive, said: “As an ex-senior civil servant – at one time Head of the Building Regulations Division – it’s fascinating for me to see the initial estimate from the academic review. There’s clearly more work to be done, but I’m now convinced that LABC should investigate this further working with industry to help establish a more detailed economic return. This value is important to everyone: for policy makers, Ministers, local government, property owners, managers and all those professionals in the construction industry.

“Complying with building standards has a real pay-back. It’s not a question of ticking boxes for their own sake. Our current system – despite all its flaws – still improves the quality, performance, safety and life-span of buildings. This is integral to all our homes, communities, workplaces and economic life and it needs to be better understood and appreciated.”