5th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 17, 1998)

5-(4) Promote the import of overseas construction materials

1. Complainant: Tokyo Chamber of Commerce

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Construction

3. Complaint:

The following should be aimed for: an early switchover from the specifications and stipulations of the Building Standards Law to performance stipulations, expansion of the application range, and expansion of the application of a mutual approval system.

4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:

With its objectives being the protection of the life, health and property of the people, the Building Standards Law sets forth the minimum standards for building sites, structures, etc. This law focuses on the standards for buildings alone: the actual stipulations (specifications and stipulations) of the specifications for construction methods, materials, dimensions, etc. For this reason, "Revision of the Program to Promote Deregulation" (Cabinet decision of March 1997) sets forth the intentions to review a transition from the standards that specify materials, specifications and standards in detail under the standard system of the Building Standards Law to standards that specify performance and to establish a new systematic framework.

At present, based on the March 1997 report of Building Council, the task of revising the Building Standards Law, which is the mainstay for introducing performance stipulations to construction standards, has been undertaken, and a bill is expected to be submitted at the regular session of the Diet in 1998.

Concerning the import of overseas construction materials, based on "Revision of the Deregulation Action Program" (March 28, 1997 Cabinet decision), the public residential construction specifications were revised in September 1997, and it was clarified that for the public residential construction work engaged in by public bodies such as local governments, the standards of the foreign countries that have been accepted in Japan will be handled similarly to JIS and JAS.

(Concerning policy on a mutual approval system, please see "Simplify the approval work for construction materials, etc.")