The Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) Regulations 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement articles 3 to 6 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, OJ No L 1, 4.1.2004 (“the Directive”) by amending the Building Regulations 2000 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations 2000. They also make other amendments to those Regulations.

Part 2 of these Regulations amends the Building Regulations 2000. In particular:

(1) Regulation 3 amends regulation 2 to insert definitions of terms used in the amendments.

(2) Regulation 4 amends regulation 3 by adding 3 new categories of energy efficiency requirements to the definition of “building work”, and removes the distinction between dwellings and other buildings in the definition.

(3) Regulation 5 amends regulation 4 so that the new energy efficiency requirements need only comply with the requirements of Part L (conservation of fuel and power) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations.

(4) Regulation 6 inserts regulations 4A and 4B. Regulation 4A requires that persons carrying out renovation or replacement work on the fabric of a building must meet the requirements of Part L. Regulation 4B requires that where a building ceases to be exempt from the energy efficiency requirements, work be carried out so as to meet the requirements of Part L.

(5) Regulation 8 amends regulation 9 so that work on any type of building must meet the requirements of Part L, unless the building falls within one of the new categories specified as exempt.

(6) Regulation 9 amends regulation 11 to remove local authorities' power to dispense or relax the requirements of the regulations in respect of the target CO₂ emission rate (regulation 17C) and, in the case of large buildings, the energy efficiency requirements of the Regulations.

(7) Regulation 10(b) rectifies an error in the amendments made by paragraph 6(2)(b) of Schedule 3 to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (“the RRO”). Regulation 10(c) allows a person proposing to carry out specified types of emergency repairs to give a building notice after starting work, where it is impractical to do so beforehand.

(8) Regulation 15 inserts Part VA (energy performance of buildings). This Part implements articles 3 to 6 of the Directive as follows.

(a) Regulation 17A implements Article 3, and requires the Secretary of State to approve a methodology for the calculation of the energy performance of buildings.

(b) Regulation 17B implements Article 4, and requires the Secretary of State to approve minimum energy performance requirements for new buildings in the form of target CO₂ emission rates.

(c) Regulation 17C implements Article 5 and requires that new buildings must not exceed the target CO₂ emission rate.

(d) Regulation 17D partially implements Article 6, so that where certain types of major works are proposed to existing buildings over 1000m₂ the building is to be upgraded, insofar as it is technically, functionally and economically feasible, to meet the requirements of Part L. Article 6 is otherwise implemented through the application of new regulations 4A, 4B and Part L to any building work in buildings over 1000m₂.

(9) Regulation 17 inserts regulations 20B, 20C and 20D.

(a) Regulation 20B requires that in approved circumstances pressure testing of new buildings be undertaken in accordance with an approved procedure and the results be given to the local authority. The regulation also enables local authorities to accept certificates from specified persons as evidence that the testing has been carried out in accordance with the approved procedure.

(b) Regulation 20C requires that the person carrying out the work shall provide the local authority with a notice confirming that all fixed building services have been commissioned in accordance with an approved procedure.

(c) Regulation 20D requires the person carrying out the work to provide the local authority with a notice that specifies the target CO₂ emission rate for the building and the calculated emission rate for the building as constructed. The regulation also enables local authorities to accept certificates from specified persons as evidence that the requirements of regulation 17C will be met if the building is built in accordance with listed specifications.

(10) Regulation 18 expands the list of regulations which are not subject to criminal penalties.

(11) Regulation 19 substitutes a new Part L in Schedule 1.

(12) Regulation 20 makes minor amendments to Part P (electrical safety) of Schedule 1.

(13) Regulation 21 substitutes a new Schedule 2A, which provides exemptions from the requirement to give a building notice or to deposit full plans and types of work which may be self-certified. The previous Schedule 2A has been largely replicated, with some minor amendments and a number of new types of work added.

(14) Regulation 22 amends Schedule 2B to provide additional types of minor work where no building notice or plans are required.

Part 3 of these Regulations amends the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations. Specifically, regulation 25 mirrors regulation 16A of the Building Regulations 2000, and regulation 26 makes insertions to mirror the amendments dealing with pressure testing, commissioning and CO₂ emission rate calculations.

Part 4 of these Regulations (regulation 28) applies those regulations that implement the Directive to educational buildings and buildings of statutory undertakers.

Part 5 provides transitional provisions.

These Regulations also make consequential amendments to the Building Regulations 2000 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations 2000.

The Secretary of State has approved, under section 6(4) of the Building Act 1984, four new approved documents providing practical guidance with respect to the requirements of regulations 4A, 4B, 17C, 17D, 20B, 20C and 20D and Part L. Those Approved Documents also contain the details of:

(a) the target CO₂ emission rates approved for the purposes of regulation 17B;

(b) the circumstances in which pressure testing is required by regulation 20B, the procedure for carrying out such testing and manner of recording test results approved for the purposes of regulation 20B; and

(c) the procedure for commissioning fixed building services approved for the purposes of regulation 20C.

The Secretary of State has also approved a new approved document containing practical guidance with respect to the requirements contained in Part P.

These Approved Documents will be published by The Stationery Office and will be available on the ODPM website at www.odpm.gov.uk.

The Secretary of State has also approved, for the purposes of regulation 17A, a methodology of calculation of the energy performance of buildings, to be published in an ODPM Circular by The Stationery Office, and which will be available on the ODPM website.

A transposition note setting out how these Regulations implement the Directive, and a regulatory impact assessment in relation to the new requirements, have been prepared and placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

Copies of the transposition note and regulatory impact assessment may also be obtained from the ODPM website or from Buildings Division, ODPM (Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; email: [e-mail].).