CIOB Welcomes Anti-Cowboy Measures

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has lent its support to a plan to empower local authorities to halt illegal or dangerous building work

In a submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government, the organisation backed proposals to allow local authorities to halt illegal or potentially harmful construction activity through stop notices.The notices, which would freeze building work until steps are taken to remove or reduce the risk of harm, would have greater force than written or oral warnings, the body said.

Kevin Dawson, the CIOB's building control and standards faculty chairman, said: “This is an important step forward in preventing sub-standard work from being covered up, which can be costly, or even impossible, to rectify at a later date...“There is a strong argument that the enforcement role of local authorities has been neglected in the past and should take much greater prominence from now on.”

Mr Dawson added: "We encourage the CLG to investigate the merits of enforcement via the trading standards department rather than through planning or building control sections of local authorities."

The CLG's Future of Building Control Consultation document has proposed a series changes to the building control system in England and Wales.These include modernising inspection and enforcement, providing alternative routes to compliance and reshaping the way regulations and guidance are delivered.