Build back better, in practice not in slogans

Every recovery programme announces that it will build back better. The phrase is worth taking seriously precisely because it is used carelessly, and the serious version is entirely technical.

What it actually means

That a building being replaced is built to the standard that would be required for a new building today, rather than reproduced as it was.

In practice: insulation and glazing to current energy performance requirements, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery where the standard demands it, accessible entrances and lifts, modern electrical and fire safety, and metering at the point of use.

Why it is worth the extra cost

Because the marginal cost of a higher specification at the moment of construction is a fraction of the cost of retrofitting the same building later. A wall is insulated once cheaply or twice expensively.

And because a badly insulated building commits the country to importing energy to heat it for fifty years, which is a recurring cost that dwarfs the initial saving.

The honest objection

Higher standards mean fewer units for the same money in the first years, and people waiting for housing do not benefit from a building they are not in. That is a real trade-off and it should be stated rather than argued away.

The reasonable resolution is to apply the full standard where a building is being replaced entirely and a proportionate one where a damaged building is being repaired.

How it becomes real

Through the building code and the conditions attached to reconstruction funding, not through a commitment in a speech. A standard that is not in a code and not in a contract is a preference.

The phrase has a definite meaning on site and it is not a slogan: insulation class, a lift, an accessible entrance, a higher seismic and fire standard. Each is one line in a specification and a percentage in a budget. From the equipment side the difference is this — building better costs ten per cent at the time of building and twice that if added later. The moment of decision is the day the tender document is written.