A socio-technical system framework for risk-informed performance-based building regulation

• Published in: Building research and information : the international journal of research, development and demonstration development and demonstration, 2018-05, Vol.46 (4), p.444-462
• Main Authors: Meacham, Brian J., van Straalen, IJsbrand J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buildings; Climate change; Environmental policy; Evolution; Performance measurement; Regulation; Risk; Risk management; Social factors; Sustainability
• ISSN: 0961-3218; 1466-4321
• DOI: 10.1080/09613218.2017.1299525

Building regulatory systems have been evolving in recent decades, first with a transition to a functional or performance basis, and more recently with the introduction of new societal objectives, including those related to sustainability and climate change resiliency. Various policy and technical challenges have been identified with this evolution, including the lack of a common basis for establishing performance expectations, quantified performance metrics, and robust mechanisms to incorporate new objectives in a manner that effectively integrates a diversity of stakeholder input and results in regulatory requirements that do not compete with long-standing objectives. Among the mechanisms being explored to facilitate a managed evolution is the use of risk as a basis for performance, and modifications within the building regulatory environment to enable this. It is posited that framing the building regulatory system as a socio-technical system (STS) will highlight the complex interactions that exist between regulators and the market, the roles stakeholders play in characterizing risk for use in building regulation, and what steps are required to shift to a risk-informed performance-based building regulatory system, taking into account different legal structures and regulatory approaches that exist between jurisdictions.