Ms Sarah Neary:

I do not have the cumulative cost here but every time we change the building regulations we conduct a regulatory impact assessment. We are very conscious of costs. The areas that we cover in the building regulations concern the health and safety of people in and around buildings. In the past ten years, for example, we have made changes to the regulations governing fire safety in dwelling houses, sound between houses, proper ventilation in houses, the introduction of carbon monoxide alarms, standards for flues from heating systems, waste water treatment systems and so on. There are basic functional requirements for buildings and homes in the interests of health and safety, but we are very conscious of costs in that context. As I said, we carry out a regulatory impact assessment on each regulatory change, showing the additional cost involved, if any. In some cases, it is very-----