Verification of a building defect classification system for housing

Abstract

PurposeThis paper seeks to verify and validate a building defect classification system that has been previously developed and presented in Structural Survey. In doing so, the paper also seeks to address the following question: “Can Government regulatory control improve the quality of house construction?”Design/methodology/approachArchicentre House Inspection Reports were used.FindingsThe houses built under the HCGA (1988‐1996) from a previous study recorded an average of 2.29 defects per house. The 100‐house sample constructed under the DBCTA (1996 onwards) recorded 536 defects, equating to an average of 5.36 defects per house. This finding suggests that the quality of housing has dropped since the two Acts of Parliament were enacted. There also appears to be a significant increase in the number of consumers requesting inspections by industry professionals while construction is still in progress and before handover is achieved. This, coupled with the substantial increase in the number of defects per house, would suggest that the new Act has not had the desired impact.Originality/valueThe research is the first of its kind to examine the effectiveness of Government regulatory control of quality of housing that is constructed. Using the defect classification system, governments can examine the effectiveness of their domestic building policies.