Shaping the Energy Efficiency in New Buildings - Building Energy ...

Chinese local governments also designate certified independent organizations to verifydesign compliance to codes. These organizations are appointed by city governmentsthrough their respective construction administration departments. There are no centralstandards for certification. Local or central government officials may randomly check theresults.Appendix A summarizes the entities that carry out inspections and what incentives forcompliance each country has established.Box: Spotlight on Use of Third PartiesThird parties are an important option for quickly expanding enforcement capabilities in countriesthat have until recently, not consistently reviewed designs or inspected buildings for compliancewith their codes. Several APP countries have experience with third party verification at either thedesign review or inspection stage. Hence, it seems useful to highlight this experience andpotentially useful lessons.In Japan, designated confirmation bodies, such as the Building Center of Japan, verify buildingdesigns before local governments approve the designs. These bodies are officially approved by agovernment agency (the Building Center of Japan was approved by the Ministry of Constructionin 1965). The designated confirmation bodies of Japan abide by the regulations set out in theBuilding Standard Law of Japan.In South Korea, local government building officials enforce the codes for new buildings as part ofthe building permitting process. The property owner of the proposed building is required tocomplete an energy-savings worksheet signed by a licensed architect, mechanical engineer andelectrical engineer. The Korean Energy Management Corporation may also take part in reviewingthe worksheets, but ultimately the decision to approve the design is made by local governmentofficials.In the United States, local jurisdictions or states enforce the building energy codes and thesecodes are adopted at the local level. The same is true in Canada, where enforcement falls underthe authority of provincial and territorial governments. Although the United States state and localjurisdictions typically verify building designs and inspect buildings, in a few jurisdictions, stateand local governments may also allow third parties to verify building designs. This can takedifferent forms. In Wisconsin, for example, certified building designers must sign the occupancypermit, indicating that the construction matches the design. Designers who do not properly verifyconstruction in this jurisdiction can lose their licenses, which provides a strong incentive. InFairfax County, Virginia, developers can hire certified third parties to speed the inspectionprocess, but the third party cannot have a financial interest in the project.Third-party reviewers not only lessen the workload but also tend to be more experienced insolving the complexities and subtleties of codes and may have access to other sources andcontacts (Bartlett et al., 2003). The disadvantage of third parties is that they may have a conflictof interest and as such, they may not have an incentive to highlight design errors. It has beenobserved in the United States that enforcement is more successful when local and stategovernments work together to enforce codes (Bartlett et al., 2003).59