ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine the making of building regulations as a social and organisational process. When considering the relationship between business and the environment, we argue that regulation itself can usefully be seen as a business, the terms of which are themselves negotiated by a variety of public and private actors. This view is in contrast to the more conventional interpretation of regulation as a uni-directional instrument of policy-that is, as a stick wielded by government over business (Shove and Raman, 1996). Rather than seeing environmental standard-setting as something which is invented and imposed, or which simply mirrors government commitment, we also argue that the potential for environmental regulation is situational, and must be understood with reference to the sector specific characteristics, histories and practices which constitute, in this case, the wider world of building construction.
