# gold plate
## English
### Alternative forms

* gold-plate

### Noun

gold plate (countable and uncountable, plural gold plates)
* A thin layer of gold applied to the surface of an object, often by an electrolytic method.
* Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see gold,‎ plate.

### Verb

gold plate (third-person singular simple present gold plates, present participle gold plating, simple past and past participle gold plated)
* To apply gold plate to an object, to plate with gold.
* (of projects) To incorporate costly or otherwise excessive features or refinements unnecessarily, to overengineer.
** 1991, Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, “Regulatory Barriers in the Suburbs”, in Thomas H. Kean, Thomas Ludlow Ashley, editors, Not in My Back Yard: Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing:‎, DIANE Publishing, published 1993, →ISBN, Excessive Subdivision Controls, page 2-8:Some communities gold-plate their subdivision ordinances because they know that developers, rather than the local voters, are paying.
** 2001, Walter Edward Hammond, Design Methodologies for Space Transportation Systems‎, volume 1, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, →ISBN, page 771:To help reduce the “sticker shock,” stick to what we really need and do not gold plate the requirements.
** 2008, Wayne Turk, Common Sense Project Management‎, American Society for Quality, →ISBN, Chapter 10: An Introduction, Continued Project Management 101, Part 2, page 59:Exceed expectations. This sounds contradictory to the earlier advice not to accept extra or unnecessary tasks and not to gold plate requirements, but it is not.
* (of laws, regulations, etc) To embellish, to extend beyond its intended scope, especially so as to become stifling, or rigid and inflexible.
** 2006, House of Lords, quoting Bill Callaghan, Government Policy on the Management of Risk: 5th Report of Session 2005-06‎, Volume II: Evidence, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, 17 January 2006 - Mr Bill Callaghan and Mr Geoffrey Podger; Q276, page 84:I do not think that we gold plate European regulations although I think others, insurers and other industry bodies, may gold plate on our behalf.
** 2008, Simon Marsden, Strategic Environmental Assessment in International and European Law: A Practitioner's Guide‎, Earthscan, →ISBN, Part II - European Law, Chapter 12 Comparisons and Conclusions, page 282:Devolved administrations in individual jurisdictions can always choose to gold plate requirements by doing more than a treaty of directive requires, subject to the constitutional provisions under which they were created.
** 2009, Wim Voermans, edited by Henk Snijders and Stefan Vogenauer, Content and Meaning of National Law in the Context of Transnational Law‎, Sellier. European Law Publishers, →ISBN, Gold-Plating and Double Banking: an Overrated Problem?, page 84:In order to find our whether the UK tends to gold plate (and double bank) more than other EU countries – as was suggested by some commentators – the Davidson Review adopted a multi-stage approach.
** 2010, Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development, “The interface between members states and the European Union”, in Better Regulation in Europe: Netherlands 2010‎, OCED Publishing, →ISBN, page 116:For example the packaging directive was gold plated in transposition.

#### Usage notes

The sense relating to laws and regulations is particularly used in relation to European Union directives