Memorandum by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister (BRG 02)
Further to my fax of 19 March, I am pleased
to attach three separate notes in response to the points listed
in your letter to me of 11 March. I hope that the Committee will
find these helpful.
Paul F Everall
Head of Buildings Division
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
ENERGY CONSERVATION—IMPROVEMENTS
BY 2006
1. It is not yet possible to give an estimate
of the contribution that the prospective 2005 changes to the Building
Regulations will make. Officials and contractors are still developing
the detailed proposals for the changes and still preparing the
draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). The draft RIA will contain
the estimates of the prospective carbon emission reductions and
the costs to builders and their clients, SMEs and the nation.
It will also include the wider case that the proposals follow
Better Regulation Policy.
2. The proposals and the draft RIA are to
be examined by the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC)
during April and May this year, with the aim of enabling the Government
to initiate public consultation in July. Until the results of
that exercise have been considered by BRAC in spring 2005, and
the Government has taken a view on how best to proceed, the prospective
savings will remain uncertain.
3. Despite the above, the improvement achieved
in the April 2002 amendment may give the Committee an indication
of the contribution that can be expected. The higher standards
for new dwellings introduced in April 2002 are considered to have
delivered around 25% improvement in reducing both householders'
annual costs and carbon emissions. At the same time the performance
standards for replacement windows and boilers were introduced
to supplement the existing provisions for works on existing dwellings.
The final RIA signed on 4 October 2001[2]estimated
in Table 10 that the impact of these in 2010 would be to reduce
carbon emissions by about 1.0 million tonnes per year.
4. The aim in the prospective 2005 amendment
is to achieve a further improvement in housing of at least the
same order. This is to be achieved by setting overall performance
standards for carbon emissions for new dwellings that take account
of fabric thermal insulation and air-tightness, boiler efficiency
and lighting, and seeking to expand the scope of the Building
Regulations as they apply to works on existing dwellings.
Correlation with the Energy Performance of Buildings
Directive
5. The Directive leaves it to Member States
(MSs) to set the performance standards so it will have no direct
impact on carbon savings.
6. The Directive requires MSs to set energy
performance standards for most new and existing buildings (Article
4), and to apply these to new buildings (Article 5) and to existing
buildings over 1,000 m2 floor area that are to be the subject
of major renovation (Article 6). It also requires MSs to introduce
measures that will oblige building owners to make available building
energy performance certificates whenever buildings are constructed,
sold or rented out (Article 7). The Government has yet to take
any decisions on the ways of implementation, but officials are
developing proposals to comply with Articles 4 to 6 of Part L
through the Building Regulations, setting performance standards
that align with the goals set out in the Energy White Paper. The
aim of Article 7 is to raise the importance of energy performance
in the public mind rather than directly affect carbon emissions.
THE COST
OF INSTALLING
SPRINKLER SYSTEMS
1. The Report produced by the Building Research
Establishment (BRE) arising out of their study looking into the
effectiveness of residential sprinkler systems indicated that
the initial cost of installing a typical sprinkler system into
a three-bedroom house during its construction is of the order
of £1,500 to £2,700.
2. These estimated costs were provided by
members of the UK sprinkler and water industries and include the
supply and installation of the system and the connection to and
provision of water supplies.
3. This initial cost is likely to spread
over the life of the building as part of a property loan. In addition,
the sprinkler system will require annual maintenance at a cost
in the order of £50 per year. The BRE analysis assumed a
typical property life of 50 years over which the cost of the sprinkler
system and water supplies were estimated on this basis to be in
the order of £115 to £167 per year including maintenance,
resulting in a lifetime cost of £5,725 to £8,350.
A TABLE SUMMARISING EACH PART (A-P) OF THE
BUILDING REGULATIONS WITH DETAILS OF ANY REVIEW CURRENTLY UNDER
WAY AND A TIMETABLE OF THE PROCESS
| Part of the Regulation
| Present Position |
PART A (Structure) | New AD to be published April/May 2004, coming into force 6 months later.
|
| PART B (Fire Safety) | Review started. Public consultation on revised AD
expected early 2005.
|
PART C (Site Preparation and resistance to
contaminants and moisture)
| New AD to be published April/May 2004,
coming into force 6 months later.
|
| PART D (Toxic substances) | No plans to review.
|
| PART E (Resistance to the passage of Sound)
| New AD came into force 1 July 2003.
Robust Details as an alternative to testing available from 1 July 2004.
|
| PART F (Ventilation) | Public consultation on revised AD expected July 2004.
|
| PART G (Hygiene) | Consultation on revised AD expected early 2005.
|
| PART H (Drainage and waste disposal) | New AD came into force 1 April 2002.
No further plans to review.
|
| PART J (Heat producing appliances) | New AD came into force 1 April 2002.
No further plans to review.
|
PART K (Protection from falling, collision and
impact)
| No plans to review. |
| PART L (Conservation of fuel and power) |
Public consultation on revised Part L
(including Buildings Energy Performance Directive) expected July 2004, coming into force by end 2005.
|
| PART M (Access and facilities for disabled people)
| Revised AD for non-domestic buildings comes into force I May 2004. Review of domestic provisions just started, with public consultation anticipated in early 2005.
|
| PART N (Glazing) | No plans to review.
|
| PART P (Electrical safety in dwellings) |
Ministers announced autumn 2003 that Part P would
be introduced into the Regulations. New AD to be
published summer 2004 coming into force January
2005, provided sufficient self-certification schemes
available by then.
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