The influence of legislation upon onsite construction environmental management operations: a qualitative analysis

A sustainable built environment begins during the design and construction phase as potential environmental damage from such operations may impact negatively upon ecosystems. With the introduction of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) principles, effective onsite environmental management operations should be a realisation. However, in reality construction operations continue to have negative environmental impacts. Within New South Wales, the government pledge to ESD has created a complex legislative system and its ability to achieve objectives associated with environmental protection remain in question. Application of the legislation in different contexts results in inconsistent levels of environmental protection. Inconsistency may occur at the confluence of interpretation and implementation of regulations, in conjunction with monitoring and enforcement. There remains ambiguity, informality, and interconnectedness inherent in interactions considered highly complex and unique to each construction project and a lack of knowledge about the impacts of external non-contractual influences upon project operations. Using a systems theory approach, this research investigates on-site construction operations and environmental management against the effectiveness of regulation, monitoring and information flow. This paper reports preliminary findings based on twelve (12) semi-structured interviews conducted during the initial phase of a qualitative study. Interviews targeted the following professional stakeholder groups: government regulatory officers; non-government regulatory certifiers; planners; and construction managers. Preliminary analysis through a coding approach identified themes that impact upon effective onsite environmental operations, inter alia, processes of environmental assessment compliance, organisational processes of environmental compliance, information transfer, learning and development, environmental management systems and accreditation and regulatory processes of environmental management.