The boundary element method is getting increasingly popular and there is a growing amount of literature on the method. The subject of error is fundamental to any numerical method. This paper tackles the problem of error control in the boundary element method. Since the matrices associated with solutions using the boundary element method are full matrices, we have to continue to seek strategies of obtaining accurate results with minimum number of grid elements. The strategy of equidistribution is one such. We show here how we can use equidistribution in constant elements. We derive an expression for a monitor function to be used and verify the strategy described by means of an example. Results show that the strategy is useful for obtaining an efficient grid in solving problems with local regions of high activity.

discretisation, local error, global error, boundary elements, boundary integral methods, integral equations, equidistribution, monitor functions.