[Received by email]

Dear Sir/Madam,
I’m a Licensed Building Designer with over 30 years experience in the Building Industry and have just been advised of your research study.
I believe you’d be shocked if you conducted a survey of those involved in our industry. My experience is that most builders & tradespersons aren’t aware of the Standards to which they are supposed to comply in their day-to-day work, let alone have copies of the most relevant & recent Standards. Likewise, most Building Designers & Architects (the specifiers) do not have up-to-date copies of all the Standards to which they must refer during the design & specification of structures.
The primary reason is COST. The majority of practices are either sole traders or only have up to a half dozen employees. They cannot justify the initial & ongoing cost of Standards. Not even Bill Gates has had the nerve to actually lock users out of his operating systems after they’ve been used for 12 months yet this is what happens to the CD versions we purchase!
Standards are designed for the benefit of the entire population. They are to ensure safety & “fit for purpose”. The general public has a right to be able to confirm whether the work they’re paying for actually complies with Standards. All Standards should therefore be easily accessible by any member of the public. The present regime has created a situation where Standards are not standard but the almost exclusive domain of the rich & powerful.
If all Standards were published on the web & freely accessible by the public I believe that in time both safety & quality of work would improve across the building industry. I do NOT believe that standards should be in the hands of private entities.
Sincerely
Merv Ruge