scholarly journals Performing Expertise in Building Regulation: ‘Codespeak’ and Fire Safety Experts

Minerva ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angus Law ◽  
Graham Spinardi

AbstractFire safety expertise was in great demand following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in June 2017. The government established a review of building regulations and an expert panel to inform its responses to Grenfell, and many other relevant organisations also formed their own expert panels. However, expert knowledge in fire safety is a highly contested domain, with knowledge claims based on differing sources. Fire fighters can claim expertise based on their experience of fighting fires, scientists and science-based engineers can claim expertise from experimentation, and those who create and enact regulations can claim expertise in what can termed ’codespeak’—the language of regulation. Although distanced from fundamental empirical experience of fire, codespeak is powerful because of its relative clarity and certainty, and legal status. Building users also bring their own form of ‘local’ expertise—they have first-hand experience of the practicalities of the solutions wrought by the other experts. Policy-makers thus face many competing forms of expert advice on fire safety, and their ability to judge what is most relevant in any particular case rests on the existence of a sufficient range and depth of in-house government expertise.

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-119
Author(s):  
Young-Joo Song ◽  
Tae-Woo Kim ◽  
Keesin Jeong

The National Fire Safety Code (NFSC) sets forth the installation methods and technical standards of firefighting facilities. This information is stipulated in the attached Table 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Fire Prevention and Installation, Maintenance and Safety Control of Fire-Fighting Systems. The NFSC serves as a foundation for fire prevention and public safety. However, the current version of the NFSC has been under scrutiny due to its delayed enactment and revision process. This is because of its structural inflexibility, time-consuming procedures, and mixed usage of both performance and technical standards. Furthermore, there are difficulties with keeping its unique specialties due to the absence of a specialized, permanent independent entity that enacts, revises, and maintains its standards. Moreover, the NFSC lacks collectivity, openness, and consistency. Therefore, to overcome the aforementioned obstacles, this study investigates the operational and legal status of the NFSC and the problems regarding its enactment and revision process. Further, it presents suggestions for system improvement by analyzing and comparing the information with domestic and foreign counterparts dedicated to managing their similar technical NFSC standards. First, the study recommends that the legal performance and technical standards mixed within the current NFSC should be separated. Second, the enactment and revision of technical standards should be implemented by the private sector and not by the government. Third, technical standards should adopt a user-oriented approach for the code system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-424
Author(s):  
Jamaluddin Jamaluddin

Indonesian reformation era begins with the fall of President Suharto. Political transition and democratic transition impact in the religious life. Therefore, understandably, when the politic transition is not yet fully reflects the idealized conditions. In addition to the old paradigm that is still attached to the brain of policy makers, various policies to mirror the complexity of stuttering ruler to answer the challenges of religious life. This challenge cannot be separated from the hegemonic legacy of the past, including the politicization of SARA. Hegemony that took place during the New Order period, adversely affected the subsequent transition period. It seems among other things, with airings various conflicts nuances SARA previously muted, forced repressive. SARA issues arise as a result of the narrowing of the accommodation space of the nation state during the New Order regime. The New Order regime has reduced the definition of nation-states is only part of a group of people loyal to the government to deny the diversity of socio-cultural reality in it. To handle the inheritance, every regime in the reform era responds with a pattern and a different approach. It must be realized, that the post-reform era, Indonesia has had four changes of government. The leaders of every regime in the reform era have a different background and thus also have a vision that is different in treating the problem of racial intolerance, particularly against religious aspect. This treatment causes the accomplishment difference each different regimes of dealing with the diversity of race, religion and class that has become the hallmark of Indonesian society.


1987 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-417
Author(s):  
Sarfraz K. Qureshi

Intersectoral terms of trade play a cruc1al role in determining the sectoral distribution of income and resource allocation in the developing countries. The significance of intra-sectoral terms of trade for the allocation of resources within the agricultural sector is also widely accepted by research scholars and policy-makers. In the context of planned development, the government specifies production targets for the agricultural sector and for different crops. The intervention of government in the field of price determination has important implications for the achievement of planned targets. In Pakistan, there is a feeling among many groups including farmers and politicians with a rural background that prices of agricultural crops have not kept their parities intact over time and that prices generally do not cover the costs of production. The feeling that production incentives for agriculture have been eroded is especially strong for the period since the early 1970s. It is argued that strong inflationary pressures supported by a policy of withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural inputs have resulted in rapid increases in the prices paid by agriculturists and that increases in the prices received by farmers were not enough to compensate them for the rising prices of agricultural inputs and consumption goods.


Mining ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Tiyamike Haundi ◽  
Gift Tsokonombwe ◽  
Steven Ghambi ◽  
Theresa Mkandawire ◽  
Ansley Kasambara

In the recent years, there has been a surge in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in various districts of Malawi. Reports of a gold rush have emerged in various districts, including Mangochi, Lilongwe, Balaka, and lately in Kasungu. There has been persistence by many indigenous communities participating in ASGM activities, yet little is being done by the government to formalize and support the sub-sector. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of artisanal small-scale gold mining in Malawi and expose the shortfalls so that key stakeholders and policy makers are well informed. A quantitative approach which used semi-structured questionnaires was used and the data was analyzed using Microsoft excel and Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The study shows that ASGM is characterized by people with low literacy levels, who use traditional tools (low-tech) and use methods fueled by lack of capital, and deficiency of basic knowledge of mining and geology. The study found that the government could achieve substantial socio-economic development from the sector by: (1) revising the current artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) legislation so that it embraces the customary practices whilst safeguarding the environment and improving the tax collection base; (2) providing support in form of mining related training and education to these communities; (3) leading in transfer of modern technologies for improved extraction; (4) supporting ASM cooperatives in securing credit facilities from financial institutions; and (5) closing the existing knowledge gap for ASM related issues through introduction of mining desk officers in district councils.


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