Harmonization of Building Legislation in European Union
The main aim of this dissertation is to first, offer evidence on EU country-specific premise on how, why and the extent to which lack of commonly accepted Building legislation System and Code jurisprudence mechanism impacts on both specific Member States individually and the EU as whole, and secondly, and more important, whether agreements between 28 Member States (including United Kingdom) which constitute the EU in terms of commonly agreed harmonisation could help resolve recalcitrant construction barriers and challenges within the EU. Most of all, how such common ground in Building and Construction business on a EU framework could be worked out and enforced for common good of all EU Member States and how ensuing barriers, challenges and trade-offs could be best resolved. Taking into consideration and always having in mind that respecting Building laws and honouring Codes are needed to ensure safety, security and wellbeing of building occupants, ensuring environmental standards are consistently applied and responsibilities of local authorities are always sustainably executed for common good.

There are only a few studies available referring and or comparing the various systems of building legislation and control in some European countries. Those studies failed to answer either the Core Question or the Research Questions of this dissertation thesis;

•Core Question: Could a common, harmonised and enforceable EU Building Code System really be made feasible such that current disparities, inconsistencies and unequal playing fields in EU building Jurisprudence could really be well reconciled among Member States?

•Research Questions:
◦What are the characteristics of Building Legislation systems?
◦Which standards and technical documents apply to Building Legislation?
◦What are the various interested parties (actors) in Building Legislation and their interrelations?
◦What are the main differences and similarities between European Countries regarding the tasks and responsibilities of enforcement actors and the main types?
◦What are the main problems of the current organization of building control?
◦What are the interesting elements of the regulatory systems of the different countries that contribute to effective and efficient building control and could be the ingredients for a harmonized system of building control in Europe in the future?
◦Can Building Legislation be harmonized all over Europe?

The scarcity of the referred studies and the inadequacy to fulfil the existing gap, create the need for the preparation of this dissertation, which I believe will, through research and study, fill this gap and possibly give the Member States the opportunity to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their Planning and Building legislation and proceed toward the adoption of a common building legislation and towards the Harmonization of Building Legislation in European Union.
In order to provide an answer to these questions a questionnaire has been prepared and answers will be obtained from experts of EU countries, collecting and analyzing main building regulations, and comparing results.