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This paper investigates the creation and use of integrated IFC models to modernise traditional processes for applications to building authorities for structural engineering approvals and permits. First, we provide a brief overview of e-permit systems in the AEC sector, with the focus on solutions that implement openBIM standards like IFC, MVD, and IDM. Second, we conduct a study on the information requirements of Italy’s seismic-authorisation processes relating specifically to the field of structural engineering. Third, we describe preliminary research on defining the structural engineering information that needs to be incorporated in the IFC format for e-permitting scopes. Fourth, we present our early work on the development of an MVD that would enable the automatic extraction of integrated IFC models. Fifth, we illustrate the reference workflow of the Str.E.Pe. project and propose a preliminary proof-of-concept that makes use of an IFC model, which has been integrated with structural information to support the activities of the building authority in Avellino. The officers there have developed a SWOT analysis using IFC models to assist them in assessing the compliance of structural projects with seismic requirements. Finally, the paper sets out additional research we intend to undertake and our conclusions.

Overall, building approvals for new houses (BANHs) are viewed by most economic analysts/commentators as a leading indicator of property investment due to the importance of this sector to the whole economy and employment. This study seeks shed some additional light on modelling this seasonal behaviour of BANHs by: (i) establishing the presence of seasonality in Victorian BANHs; (ii) ascertaining it as to whether is deterministic or stochastic; (iii) estimating out-of-sample forecasting capabilities of the modelling specification; and (iv) speculating on possible interpretation of results. The study utilises a structural time series model of Harvey. Factors corresponding to June, April, December and November are found to be significant at five per cent level. The observed seasonality could be attributed to both the summer holidays and the end of financial year seasonal effects. Irrespective of partially incomplete nature of this research, the findings should be appealing to, among others, researchers, all levels of Government, construction industry and banking industry.  

The paper examines the impact of seasonal influences on Australian housing approvals, represented by the State of Victoria[1] building approvals for new houses (BANHs). The prime objective of BANHs is to provide timely estimates of future residential building work. Due to the relevance of the residential property sector to the property sector as whole, BANHs are viewed by economic analysts and commentators as a leading indicator of property sector investment and as such the general level of economic activity and employment. The generic objective of the study is to enhance the practice of modelling housing variables. In particular, the study seeks to cast some additional light on modelling the seasonal behaviour of BANHs by: (i) establishing the presence, or otherwise, of seasonality in Victorian BANHs; (ii) if present, ascertaining is it deterministic or stochastic; (iii) determining out of sample forecasting capabilities of the considered modelling specifications; and (iv) speculating on possible interpretation of the results. To do so the study utilises a structural time series model of Harwey (1989). The modelling results confirm that the modelling specification allowing for stochastic trend and deterministic seasonality performs best in terms of diagnostic tests and goodness of fit measures. This is corroborated with the analysis of out of sample forecasting capabilities of the considered modelling specifications, which showed that the models with deterministic seasonal specification exhibit superior forecasting capabilities. The paper also demonstrates that if time series are characterized by either stochastic trend or seasonality, the conventional modelling approach[2] is bound to be mis-specified i.e. would not be able to identify statistically significant seasonality in time series.According to the selected modeling specification, factors corresponding to June, April, December and November are found to be significant at five per cent level. The observed seasonality could be attributed to the ‘summer holidays’ and ‘the end of financial year’ seasonal effects. [1] Victoria is geographically the second smallest state in Australia. It is also the second most populous state in Australia. Australia has six states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia), and two territories (the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory).[2] A modelling approach based on the assumption of deterministic trend and deterministic seasonality.

Purpose – This study aims to understand the impacts of the Minor Works Control System (MWCS) on the performance of minor works contractors following its implementation in 2011, and specifically the initiatives adopted by minor works contractors in response to the new building control regime. Suggestions are made for the further improvement of the MWCS. Like many Western countries and Asian counterparts, Hong Kong has recently implemented a new building control system (the MWCS), which aims to restructure the building proposal approval process and shift the responsibility for building control from the public to the private sector. The effectiveness of the MWCS has been strongly questioned by the industry and the public. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method including a questionnaire survey (quantitative) and focus group discussions (qualitative) was adopted to provide an initial evaluation of the impact of the MWCS on practitioners and the industry. Findings – The results suggest that implementation of the new control system has helped increase safety awareness and the technical capacity of minor works contractors. Despite these benefits, registered contractors are encountering challenges under the MWCS, such as manpower arrangement problems and higher business operating costs. Initiatives that include maintaining a sound financial background, an adequate in-house supervisory staff and a safe working environment are considered critical by practitioners to maintain their competitive edge under the new control regime. Originality/value – This study is one of the first studies in Hong Kong to evaluate the impact of the new building control system. The feedback and suggestions provided by the practitioners and experts during the research provide valuable insights for the government on how to provide support to practitioners under the MWCS to achieve a better built environment in Hong Kong.

Purpose - The fifth IPCC report on climate change concluded current progress to mitigate anthropocentric climate change is not making any impact. As the built environment emits 50 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating climate change through sustainable construction and adaptation is a priority. Although many new buildings have sustainability ratings, they comprise a minute amount of the total stock. Meanwhile policy makers are adopting strategies to become carbon neutral with targets that require measurement. The purpose of this paper is to propose a means of quantifying the uptake of sustainability across all stock over time using existing policy frameworks. Design/methodology/approach - Given that this is a scoping study to explore the potential to adapt existing frameworks to facilitate the quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time, the research adopted a focus group technique with experienced stakeholders in Australia and England. Qualitative research is inductive and hypothesis generating. That is; as the research assimilates knowledge and information contained in the literature ideas and questions are formed, which are put to research participants and from this process conclusions are drawn. Findings - It is technologically feasible to collect data on sustainability measures within the building approvals systems in Victoria and NSW Australia and England and Wales and a conceptual model is proposed. Economically, costs need to be covered, and it is unclear which group should pay. Socially, the benefits would be to determine how society is progressing towards goals. The benefits of achieving reduced carbon emissions would be mitigation of the predicted changes to climate and informing society of progress. Politically, it is unlikely there is a will to make provisions for this proposal in existing regulatory systems. Research limitations/implications - The key limitations of the research were that the views expressed are those of a select group of experienced practitioners and may not represent the consensus view of the professions and industry as a whole. The limitations and criticisms of focus group data collection are that the sessions may be dominated by individuals holding strong views. Practical implications - The findings show that adaptation of the existing data collected by building control authorities could allow some quantification of the uptake of sustainability measures over time. A simple initial system could be implemented with relative ease to ascertain the value of the data. Over time the system could be extended to collect more data that could facilitate more precise quantification of sustainability. Significantly policy makers would have a tool that would allow them to measure the success or otherwise of mandatory and voluntary measures introduced to increase the uptake of sustainability. Originality/value - To date, no one has considered the practicality or potential utility of adapting existing information gathered for building approval purposes for the quantification of the up-take of sustainability across the whole stock over time. The value of using building approval data are that all building types are required to have building approvals prior to work being undertaken.

The 2002/91/EC Directive is already 10 years old. This directive was a breakthrough and a challenge for Member States. Nevertheless, it is not far from truth that Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) underperformed. This was the main reason why the European Commission has already revised the directive in 2010 in an effort to maximize its impact. The 2010/31/EC (EPBD recast) is more ambitious and in some extent more binding to Member States. Apparently, both directive 2010/31 and its predecessor cannot work in a vacuum. First of all, someone should acknowledge and try to tackle the intrinsic weaknesses in the energy performance of buildings, the existence of market failures, but also the limitations of the 2002/91 itself. Moreover, there are interrelationships, synergies and constraints with many other national policies and procedures. These complementary and often overlooked issues are quite important and may hinder or act catalytic for the successful implementation of the EPBD. This paper will highlight the reasons why did the 2002/91 underperform, it will address the major complementary issues and finally it will highlight the existing various interrelationships, synergies and constraints these issues have with EPBD. The latter will provide insight and will be the first step towards a comprehensive and holistic approach for maximizing the 2010/31/EC's (EPBD recast) impact.

This section provides information on: the Building Act 1984; the Building Regulations 2010; Approved Documents 2010; the building regulation process and how it differs between local authorities and approved inspectors; buildings and works that are exempt from the Building Regulations; the Competent Persons scheme; preliminary works, including site assessment, demolitions, public sewers, span tables, and bat conservation; planning permission; health and safety; the Party Wall Act and Rights of Light.

New drugs for infectious diseases often need to be evaluated in low-resource settings. While people working in such settings often provide high-quality care and perform operational research activities, they generally have less experience in conducting clinical trials designed for drug approval by stringent regulatory authorities. We carried out a capacity-building programme during a multi-centre randomized controlled trial of delamanid, a new drug for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The programme included: (i) site identification and needs assessment; (ii) achieving International Conference on Harmonization - Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) standards; (iii) establishing trial management; and (iv) increasing knowledge of global and local regulatory issues. Trials were conducted at 17 sites in nine countries (China, Egypt, Estonia, Japan, Latvia, Peru, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America). Eight of the 10 sites in low-resource settings had no experience in conducting the requisite clinical trials. Extensive capacity-building was done in all 10 sites. The programme resulted in improved local capacity in key areas such as trial design, data safety and monitoring, trial conduct and laboratory services. Clinical trials designed to generate data for regulatory approval require additional efforts beyond traditional research-capacity strengthening. Such capacity-building approaches provide an opportunity for product development partnerships to improve health systems beyond the direct conduct of the specific trial.

Objectives. We estimated national and state trends in opioid agonist medication-assisted treatment (OA-MAT) need and capacity to identify gaps and inform policy decisions. Methods. We generated national and state rates of past-year opioid abuse or dependence, maximum potential buprenorphine treatment capacity, number of patients receiving methadone from opioid treatment programs (OTPs), and the percentage of OTPs operating at 80% capacity or more using Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration data. Results. Nationally, in 2012, the rate of opioid abuse or dependence was 891.8 per 100 000 people aged 12 years or older compared with national rates of maximum potential buprenorphine treatment capacity and patients receiving methadone in OTPs of, respectively, 420.3 and 119.9. Among states and the District of Columbia, 96% had opioid abuse or dependence rates higher than their buprenorphine treatment capacity rates; 37% had a gap of at least 5 per 1000 people. Thirty-eight states (77.6%) reported at least 75% of their OTPs were operating at 80% capacity or more. Conclusions. Significant gaps between treatment need and capacity exist at the state and national levels. Strategies to increase the number of OA-MAT providers are needed.