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New Regs October
The next phased introduction on changes to the country's building regulations to make homes, shops and offices warmer and cheaper to run and take Britain a step closer to achieving low carbon commitments where announced today.
The amendments to building regulations will come into force in October, giving builders 6 months to prepare and will make homes 25 per cent more energy efficient, typically saving householders £100 a year on their heating bills.
Building on the Warm Homes, Greener Homes strategy announced last week, the Government is continuing the drive towards all new buildings reaching the zero carbon standard from 2019.
The increasingly tough standards will see around 2 million tonnes of carbon saved every year by 2020, equivalent to taking over 3 million cars off of the road.
The measures include practical steps that builders can take to make buildings greener, while at the same time ensuring that more efficient, air-tight homes and offices are sufficiently ventilated. Where homeowners choose to extend or renovate their homes, they will now need to use more energy efficient windows and boilers.
New homes will need to be more water efficient too, with each household saving, on average, enough water a year for 260 baths.
The UK is the first country to confirm legislation to require all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016, with all other buildings to meet the standard from 2019.
Homes will also be safer, with improved hot water safety and a new requirement for carbon monoxide alarms whenever solid fuel combustion appliances are installed.
Notes.
The amended Parts L, F and J of the building regulations (Conservation of fuel and power, Means of ventilation and Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems) take effect from October 2010. Revisions to the relevant supporting technical guidance (Approved Documents and Compliance Guides) will be made available shortly, together with a summary of responses of last year's consultations on Parts L, F and J.
Changes are also made to the Building Regulations Competent Persons Schemes (CPSs) and minor technical amendments to Part G of the Building Regulations. The Part G and CPS amendments will take effect on 6 April 2010.
The changes to Part L will require a 25 per cent improvement above current standards for every new home. An aggregate approach for improvement of new non-domestic buildings will deliver an improvement of 25 per cent overall, rather than for each individual building. This is because there is greater variety among non-domestic buildings and some will be much easier than others to make efficient. The changes to Part L will increase the minimum levels of energy efficiency for building fabric and services, so that CO2 targets cannot be achieved through renewables alone. This reflects the principle of reducing overall demand for energy. The measures will also come into play when people elect to carry out work to existing buildings including extensions and conversions, fabric renovations, replacement windows and boilers.
Part F has been revised with new requirements and guidance for installation and commissioning of ventilation systems. This will help to maintain indoor air quality and avoid adverse health effects that could otherwise have occurred due to the greater tendency to more airtight buildings arising from the Part L changes.
Guidance on Part J has been revised to ensure that combustion appliances can continue to function safely in more airtight homes. A new requirement has been introduced for the provision of Carbon Monoxide alarms when installing all solid fuel appliances.
Changes to Part G of the Building Regulations were due to come into force on 1 October 2009. They extend and update the existing provisions in Part G that have been in force since 1992. As well as a general updating, they make three significant changes: they introduce a minimum water efficiency standard for all new homes, extend safety provisions to all types of hot water system (not just unvented systems).
Approved Design will be assimilating these revisions and delivering our usual awareness session later in the year.