Effect of Building Regulations on Built Environment

One of the most underestimated facets of the influence technology has had on the well-being of our Society is the role played by institutionalized building regulations. For the public at large there is undoubtedly an awareness that there exists a body of regulations governing the way buildings are built. Although the public usually knows little about the content of these regulations, it maintains a rather consistent impression that these regulations have been established as protection against dangers that could possibly result from poor or unthinking methods of building construction. Only the more astute may be aware that this may or may not be completely so, or that regulations are responsive to other pressures. On the other hand, architects and engineers, particularly structural engineers, are often so intimately involved with building regulations that the regulations typically become an integral part of their professional concerns. In view of this, it is a little surprising that such professionals do not take or demand a more active role in shaping these regulations.