Feasibility of representing selected elements of The 1985 Building Regulations in Prolog or other rule-based form (Ph.D. Thesis)

This thesis evaluates the existence of a consistent and repeatable internal structure within regulations, in this case focusing on The Building Regulations of 1985. The internal structure takes on a form embodied in a series of linked data structures known as 'frames' using the Prolog computer language. Evidence for the existence of an internal structure was collected from data obtained from one year's Appeals and Determinations in a report published by the Institute of Building Control. Theories about the nature of prescriptive rules are discussed to introduce the subject of regulations, analyzed within the general framework of relevant legal theories pertaining to rules. The history of regulatory control of building construction in this country is described to place the nature of disputes in context, as well as the information they can provide to develop the thesis.