Introduction of a systematic process for building control in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Building Control (BC) contributes significantly to the national economy as well as to the social wellbeing of the public of a country by ensuring the quality of its buildings and their health and safety, structural stability and energy efficiency and by imposing building rules and regulations related to the construction industry of the country. Building work must be properly regulated and monitored by the local authorities during the Plan Approval Process (PAP) by strictly adhering to the relevant building rules and regulations. However, BC in Sri Lanka is fragmented and not well managed due to the low involvement of professionals in the building work and poor supervision of building plan submissions and other related tasks. This condition has led to corruption and malpractices. Therefore, there is a vital need for professionals to get involved in the field, if the existing practises in Sri Lanka are to be changed. The aim of the research was to propose a suitable mechanism for building control in Sri Lanka which will have the involvement of professionals of the country. The effectiveness of the existing system was ascertained through the research objectives. A qualitative research approach was adopted to achieve the research aim through semi structured interviews conducted with 15 professionals coming under five categories. Content analysis was used to analyse the findings and to finally propose a suitable mechanism for building PAP by considering the existing process, identifying the weaknesses in the local practices so that the unfavourable impacts on the current PAP in Sri Lanka could be reduced and corruption and malpractices mitigated.