Regulations and Responsibilities for a Mature Society

Structural engineering is a tool for ensuring the safety of buildings against natural environmental forces. Professional engineers are qualified persons for the design and construction of safe buildings. Regulations have been developed to provide detailed specifications to assure safety in terms of minimum requirements. Though they might not meet the specific demands of individual structures, cost competition forces engineers to design for minimum levels of safety which may not be adequate for society. A new system for building approval is discussed where safety decisions are made between stakeholders helped by information from engineers' on safety and economy.