The consultation phase of the 2013 revisions to the Building Regulations once again drew attention to the differences in policies between each of the UK nations. Here, Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group, explains the differences between the nations and the approach which should be taken.
“Across the four countries, often the same Building Regulations are adopted by both England and Wales, with Northern Ireland also following a similar approach. In contrast, the equivalent documents in Scotland often differ due to the inclusion of specific regional policies.
“Having these different Building Regulations in each of the devolved countries hasn’t proved a huge issue in the past, yet there has been the odd occasion where inconsistencies between the varying regulations can cause uncertainty. A good example of this was when Scotland’s ministers altered regulations to effectively ban mechanical timers, enforcing the requirement that all controls must allow for different heating schedules at different times of the day and for different days of the week.
“In some situations the policy stipulated a full electronic programmer rather than a more basic mechanical timer which led to confusion for the homeowner. This proved the practicalities of implementing different regional regulations might be more challenging than one originally thought.
“Such difficulties between devolved nations are expected to increase, especially in light of the decision by the Welsh authorities to move towards an independent stance. Having previously followed the same regulations as England it appears they now want to approach issues separately, particularly the topic of energy efficiency in a new property.
“The Welsh Building Regulations appear to state that all new build homes must be more efficient than properties built under the 2006 Building Regulations. Although this is the case with the English regulations, target efficiency figures for the two counties differ. The consequence is that manufacturers and installers – especially those who conduct business across the UK – now have to produce different drawings, specifications, SAP ratings and other collateral for those customers in the rest of the UK, versus those customers in Wales.
“Whilst these differences are all being made for worthwhile reasons, it would have been simpler to maintain a level of consistency across all Building Regulations for the time being, rather than making regional variations. Although the majority of those operating within the building sector will be largely unaffected by this discrepancy, it is becoming increasingly common to see installers operating on a national scale to help them pursue more business opportunities. For these installers, the requirements will cause confusion and perhaps hinder their business success.
“In my opinion, all nations should be working together to create a consistent platform for installers to work from. This would streamline the process and help to ensure installers are familiar with the regulations and can maintain best practice throughout their daily work.”
[author image=”https://www.installeronline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/martynbridges.jpg” ]Martyn Bridges began his career as a heating and plumbing apprentice and has grown up with a strong knowledge of the technical side of boilers. He joined Worcester, Bosch Group in 1986 as a Technical Service Engineer and worked his way through the ranks to become Director of Marketing and Technical Support in December 2004. [/author]
