Institution 'Development Plan'

All members, when applying for admission to the Institution, sign a declaration that they will be bound by the provisions of the Charter and Bye-Laws and by the Rules of Conduct. For the majority, the latter simply strengthen the duty that they in any case owe to themselves as professional engineers. For some members in their day-to-day work, however, the Rules call for the observance of long-standing conventions, ignorance or disregard of which places the professional reputation of a member at risk, as well as reflecting adversely on the Institution itself.

‘Back in the good old days you could design a beam on the back of an envelope: it was just a matter of WL/8. Now it requires pages of calculations and probably a computer to do the same job’. A.W. Beeby

Subsidence of residential property In October, Mr J. Arnold drew our attention to some of the difficulties encountered in adopting economic remedial measures for dealing with building subsidence. Two of our readers have responded to this letter. Mr J. B. Johnson writes from Dudley: I am surprised that the matter has arisen because, in my opinion, strengthening of existing structures because of subsidence is not subject to Building Regulations control. The original construction was subject to previous legislation, and by this action was deemed to have been approved. Verulam