Building Regulations

Written evidence submitted by the Gas Industry Safety Group (GISG)

Communities and Local Government Select Committee consultation: Building Regulations applying to electrical and gas installation and repairs in dwellings

· The Building Regulations (Part J) should be revised to require audible carbon monoxide alarms to be fitted in any dwelling where a heating appliance installed (in new-build properties or retrospectively fitted).

· It is essential that the Government consider the eventuality that new appliances may breakdown, when reassessing the requirement for audible carbon monoxide alarms, under initiatives such as the Green Deal.

GISG believes preventing carbon monoxide poisoning should be key priority for government.

Given that carbon monoxide alarms cost under £20, revisiting these regulations through this Select Committee inquiry and the Loftstedt review represent a real opportunity to improve the safety of households across the UK and save lives for a relatively low cost.

Recently published Department of Health figures suggest that as many as 4,000 people every year present themselves at A&E departments and are diagnosed with CO poisoning (and sent home after treatment), whilst a further 200 are admitted to hospital, and at least 50 die every year. However it is believed that the actual number of injuries and fatalities are much higher.

Chris Bielby, Chairman of GISG, sat on the steering group for the recent All Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group (APPGSG) report Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, which considered this matter. The report considered the better use of detection and diagnosis equipment in buildings by engineers and recommended that the Government should revisit Part J of the Building Regulations.

GISG believes that any domestic, residential property, where an appliance that uses any fossil fuel (gas, solid fuel, oil) is installed (in a new-build property or retrospectively fitted) an audible carbon monoxide alarm should be fitted. The Group agrees with the point made by the APPGSG report that safety considerations should outweigh any commitment to deregulation because of the risks of both fire and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Furthermore it is GISG’s considered view that regulation regarding consumer safety should be kept up-to-date to reflect technological and cultural developments: that is reduced where improvements lessen the need for regulation and strengthened where there is a significant risk to public health.

Given that that with the Green Deal, the UK is about to commence a significant programme of environmental and efficiency improvements of the UK’s housing stock, the GISG believes that the Government should have regard to the unintended consequence of these improvements: that making houses more airtight increases the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in the event of a fossil fuel burning appliance breaking down.

About the Gas Industry Safety Group

The Gas Industry Safety Group - GISG - brings the principal organisations in the UK industry together to promote gas safety. Formed in 2000, GISG aims to promote gas safety by improving co-operatio n amongst the gas industry , dissemination of best practice and providing a forum for them to address safety issues collectively.

The pr imary objectives of GISG are to p romote gas safety ; e ncourage co-operation amongst industry players to develop, introduce and improve practices for the safe transmission, storage and use of gas throughout the UK ; and e nsure the saf ety of consumers and the public.

Gas Industry Safety Group

January 2012