Constructing Building Integrity: Raising Standards Through Professionalism

Constructing Building Integrity examines how ethical and professional standards can be raised in the residential apartment sector. Recent incidents in a number of countries, culminating in London’s Grenfell Tower inferno that claimed 72 lives, have highlighted systemic failures in the building industry’s professional and regulatory standards frameworks. These disasters raise serious questions over how consumer confidence and public trust can be improved when outcomes for multi-level, multi-owned apartment buildings remain sub-optimal. To address this issue, the book explores how cross-professional interactions, regulatory oversight, public accountability, and the ‘integrity systems’ that govern individual professions' ethical and professional standards can be strengthened to enhance professionalism and improve consumer outcomes. Focusing primarily on Australia but with wider relevance, the book draws on interdisciplinary research and insights from academics and industry experts. It discusses how integrity system components function and interact, how ethical risks and challenges impede their effectiveness, and what additional mechanisms can strengthen them. It provides timely guidance for built environment students, industry professionals, regulators, and businesses active in the sector on how product quality and professionalism can be enhanced across the life-cycle of residential apartment buildings.