KEEPING WATCH CONSERVATION & THE NEW HOUSING & BUILDING CONTROL ACT: ACTION NOW! Alan Parnell, architect & fire consultant and SPAB Committee man, has been worrying about the impact of building and fire regulations on historic buildings for several years now. He was commissioned by the DoE and produced a report that has never been published. At a seminar in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in July last year, he mooted the idea that under the new building regulations there was scope for a specialist code for historic buildings, and that documentation could be produced by a working party of those concerned, including the Association of Conservation Officers. His researches have shown that over 100 Acts of Parliament could be applied, in whole or in part, to historic buildings; and that these are monitored by at least eight ministries, through more than 26 departments, and actually implemented by local authorities at county and district, and by their sub-departments. He argues that these regulations are not specifically geared to historic buildings work, and that the proper conservation of the buildings and the safety of their inhabitants is being jeopardized by the application of bad rules, with out seeing the spirit behind the law. He is therefore mounting an SPAB campaign to persuade the Minister, when implementing the new Housing and Building Control Act, to adopt an "approved" document for building regulations in historic properties. This could be drawn up by agreement between those specialists in conservation and the District Surveyors, Building Control Officers and the Fire Brigade. It would identify the special needs of historic buildings relating to health and safety; would state the minimum functional requirements for 'means of escape' 6 etc; and would demonstrate various techniques for their implementation. It would also give case histories for acceptable solutions. In the long term, Alan is looking for specialists to be appointed as 'Approved Certifiers' under the new Act, specialising in this historic buildings work. I understand that SPAB has now written to the Minisetr on the basis of Alan's ideas, and has received a negative response by return. The ACO backs SPAB on this important issue, and will press for 'approved documents' at the most appropriate time. John Fidler. HISTORIC BUILDINGS MONITOR AT THE GLC Authority to computerise the GLC's Historic Building Division records was given two years ago, and became operational last December. The system is designed to help identify patterns of change affecting different types of buildings throughout the London area. The Council should be able to identify classes of buildings at risk as well as help with plan preparation and general administration. The only pity is that, of course, tne GLC is about to be abolished. Although the Historic Buildings Division has secured a place in the Commission's lifeboat, is their computer compatible with the GLC's? The crew may only be able to take the tapes with them! The GLC's press release quo~es Norman Howard, chairman of the Histocic Buildings Panel as saying that the system " .. also highlights the failure of the Department of the Environment to monitor what is actually happening to listed buildings across the country." Well, perhaps the GLC's pioneering work will be put to good use. Certainly there ought to be a central monitor of the actual performance of the 333 local
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