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News from Building Control

Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) Consultation
Team Nominated for National Awards
Building a Reputation for Quality
The UK's No.1 Building Control Magazine
Performance Update - July 2008
New Charges from April 2008
Insight, Onsight - Spring 2008
Site Lines
New Application Tracker Tool
The Future of Building Control
Part G Consultation Announced
Inaugural LABC Central Built in Quality Awards 2008
Second Charter Mark Award
Exciting Partnership Launched
Accessibility By Design Guide Launched

Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) Consultation

Before bringing into effect changes to the technical requirements, or the support Approved Document(s), of the Building Regulations, Government seeks views on the proposed changes through a formal consultation process.

On the 5 June 2008, Communities and Local Government published 'Part L of the Building Regulations, Proposed New editions of the Approved Documents L: Consultation'.

The contents of the consultation package include revised versions of the Approved Documents for Part L of the Building Regulations which were issued in April 2006.

The revised Documents reflect recent legislative changes to the Regulations which amended the provisions for commissioning, self certification and notifiable work. They also make corrections to a number of errors in the 2006 documents.

Additionally, the consultation covers the appropriateness of the references in the Approved Documents to a BRE technical document describing the thermal performance of building elements (in response to a judicial review judgement).

You can download the full consultation paper and response form on the Communities and Local Government website.

Royal Borough team nominated for national awards

Just two weeks after scooping three regional awards, the Royal Borough's Building Control Consultancy Team has been shortlisted for two national Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Built in Quality Awards.

Nominations are for Best Partnership with a contractor and Best Fire Engineering project categories, both for work carried out on Providence Place/Sainsbury's in Maidenhead.

The awards ceremony will take place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Thursday October 16.

Building a reputation for quality

Providence played a major role in winning the Royal Borough's building control consultancy team a trio of trophies - all three awards received at a recent regional event were for the Providence Place/Sainsbury's development in Maidenhead.

The team scooped the awards - Best Partnership with Contractor. Best Commercial Project and Best Fire Engineering innovation - in the first Local Authority Building Contrll (LABC) Central Built In Quality Regional Awards.

They were nominated in five of the 11 categories against competition from local authorities in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.

Regional winners will be nominated for the national awards and the winners announced at an awards ceremony in October.

The team, headed by Building Control Consultancy Manager Roger Paine, will be hoping to equal last year's national success when they won two 2007 National Built in Quality Awards, for Best Partnership and Best Fire Engineered solution.

Cllr Alison Knight, lead member for planning and housing said: "The borough's Building Control Consultancy Team offers a proactive approach to helping design teams understand and comply with any legal requirements, from the design stage to completion.

"These awards are the latest feather inthe cap for a successful and highly regarded team who as well as last year's national awards also boast the coveted Charter Mark for customer service excellence".

The UK's No.1 Building Control Magazine

SiteLines is LABC's quarterly magazine for customer. It is entirely about best practice in the real world, looking at projects during both the design and build phases. SiteLines is specifically written for architects, developers, designers, engineers, builders, contractors, agents and project managers.

With a special emphasis on Building Regulations, SiteLines focuses on creative and economic solutions to meeting statutory requirements. it contains sector and technical features, case studies and interviews.

The magazine keeps professionals in the building industry up to date with the latest changes in best practice and features innovative, high quality projects in all sectors from new homes to commercial, public service and industrial premises. It also provides in-depth studies on topics like noise.

PERFORMANCE UPDATE FOR JULY 2008

How well are we performing ?

We are constantly checking our performance, in order to ensure that we are meeting the standards that you have asked us to achieve. Here is a brief overview of our latest performance and workload achievements for July 2008.

100% of all applications were checked within 10 working days ( 99% was achieved in July 2007 ), this exceeds the national target which is set at 85%. Our new service standard for 2008/09 is to check 96% ( 96% in 2007/08 ) of all applications within 10 working days. We met and exceeded our target for 2007/08 with 96.8% ( 2006/07 figure was 94% ). For 2008/09 our average is 98.8% (98% for 2007/08). 87% of all decisions made on applications, were approved either conditionally or without conditions. This means only 13% of all applications that were received, required a Rejection Notice to be issued. This is a clear benefit of the policy of early checking and liaison with customers. Our average for 2007/08 slightly increased to 18.6% ( 2006/07 figure was 16.6% ). For 2008/09 our average is 19.9%. We also issued 97% of all Completion Certificates within 5 working days of inspection ( 92% was achieved in July 2007 ). Our new Service Standard for 2008/09 is to supply 95% ( 95% in 2007/08 ) of all Completion Certificates within 5 working days from satisfactory completion of the work. For 2007/08 we achieved 94% ( 2006/07 figure was 93.5% ). Whilst for 2008/09 our average is 96.5%.

We undertook 914 site inspections during July, this is a decrease of 3.4% over the figure from last year of 946.

100% of all applications received were registered and acknowledged within 24 hours. Our service standard is to register and acknowledge all applications within 48 hours of receipt. The total number of both Full Plans and Building Notice applications received during the first quarter of the year ( Apr to June ) was 407, an decrease of 11.5% from 460 during the same period last year.

Workload on site still continues to be high overall with 2,733 inspections requested and undertaken during the first quarter of the year ( Apr to June ), an increase of 6.9%. 2,545 inspections were undertaken during the same period last year. Whilst acknowledging these achievements, we will strive to maintain and wherever possible further improve in identified areas during 2008/09.

New Charges From 1st April 2008

Our new General Guide to Charges is available below to download. Please note that these charges are applicable to applications submitted to us from 1st April 2008.

Please contact our helpline on 01628 796870 if you would like assistance in calculating the correct charge.

The changes to note include the following :

All of our charges have been increased by an average of 3.4%
The flat rate Plan Charge for all domestic extensions, including garages (Tables 2a and 2b) increase from £145 to £150. There are corresponding increases in the relevant Inspection Charges.
The charge for replacement windows has increased from £75 to £80.
A minimum work value of £48,000 will be applied to all domestic extensions which exceed 60m2. This will ensure consistency between Tables and respective charges are maintained. The estimated cost of works specified will still be assessed to ensure that it is reasonable for the works being carried out.

Insight,Onsite - Spring 2008

The Spring 2008 edition of the Building Control Consultancy newsletter is now available to keep everyone updated on our latest service initiatives and Building Control news nationally. Along with Planning Matters it helps to provide a comprehensive update. In addition to the latest copy, all of the previous editions are also available on our Downloads web page. We would like to hear from you with any suggestions for future articles, please email us at: building.control@rbwm.gov.uk with your thoughts.

Site Lines

The national Building Control magazine provides our customers with news and a unique perspective of case studies from innovative projects.

Site lines is now available as an e-book. The e-book has many advantages including a search tool to find relevant articles on a specific topic from previous issues. Registering is easy. Just go to http://www.labc.uk.com/sitelinesebreg

New Application Tracker Search Tool

We are delighted to launch our unique Application Tracker search tool. Customers can now search our database for property enquiries on Building Control applications, as far back as 1987. The tool also allows clients and their agents to track the progress of their current application, right through from registration to completion. The search facility allows either application number or property address to be used to bring up detailed information. This initiative will help ease the property search process as well as provide quick easy access to the progress of a current application. Copies of specific documents are available from Building Control. The tracker service can be viewed at http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/bc_application_tracker.htm

The Future of Building Control

The Government have announced their detailed proposals on the future of building control, following an extensive review of the current building system. It has highlighted five main areas that are necessary to be tackled, to ensure that Building Control is able to continue to meet the increased needs of regulatory changes and the building industry in the future. The five main areas highlight a number of proposals these include; introducing a vision for building control, improving links between building control and planning, improved enforcement powers, introducing risk based site inspection processes, greater freedom for local authorities to set their charges, a periodic review of Building Regulations and improved technical guidance.

One proposal that your views are particularly sought, are in respect of the possibility of limiting the use of Building Notices to minor internal alterations. The use of Building Notices have dramatically increased over the last few years to incorporate works including loft conversions, large extensions, even new houses. This has created problems for Building Control in obtaining detailed information to check the adequacy of elements of the proposed design.

The views of our customers is important, you are invited to see the proposals and respond to CLG by 10th June by visiting http://www.communities.gov.uk. There is an on-line response form to help you make your comments.

Part G Consultation Announced

Proposals have been announced by the Government on a number of options for revising Part G of the Building Regulations addressing sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency in buildings.

This consultation follows a wide ranging review of Part G of the Building Regulations and delivers on two Government commitments:

to introduce into the Building Regulations a whole-building water efficiency standard of 125 litres per person per day for new homes; and
to review how Part G and the associated guidance addresses hot water safety.

The consultation seeks views on a number of changes to the Regulations and invites consultees to provide information on other options. The main areas are:

Proposals to update and bring Part G (Hygiene) and the guidance in the associated Approved Document into line with current standards, legislation and industry practice;
The proposed inclusion of a new section on cold water services which would specify locations within the building where a supply of "wholesome" water is required, and which in turn makes it possible to allow the use of "non-wholesome" water in other locations, such as the use of captured rainwater for toilet flushing;
Proposals that bring into effect the Government's policy on water efficiency;
Proposed measures to provide for consistent safety of hot water systems; and
A request for more information on the costs and benefits to allow further exploration into the possibility of limiting the temperature of water delivered to sanitary appliances to prevent scalding.

The Government also supports a provision that would help reduce the risk of scalding incidents from sanitary appliances, and is aware of the support this would have from stakeholders. However, initial analysis suggests that the costs of such measures are considerably out of proportion to the benefits they would deliver. Unfortunately, this means it is not currently possible to bring forward a definite proposal for consultation. However, as part of this consultation it is inviting more information to be provided to inform its analysis.

The consultation can be accessed via the Communities and Local Government website at: http://www.communities.gov.uk and closes on 05 August 2008.

We would very much welcome your comments on the proposals set out in this consultation paper.

Inaugural LABC Central Built In Quality Awards 2008

The first LABC Central Built In Quality Awards are to take place on 20th June at the Jury's Inn Hotel in Central Milton Keynes. The awards recognise and reward the most forward thinking people and organisations, and the most innovative construction projects completed over the last year. The Royal Borough's Building Control Consultancy team are delighted that nine nominations it made have been shortlisted as finalists in a number of the award categories. The winners from the regional awards will automatically be nominated in the prestigious National Awards to be held in October at the Grosvenor House Hotel. Fingers crossed that the team's success in the 2007 National Awards can be continued. Further details can be found on the awards web site at http://www.centralawards.co.uk/.

Second Charter Mark Award

Customer service excellence is still definitely top of the list for the Building Control Consultancy team. Following a detailed assessment of its re-application to continue to hold the Charter Mark standard for customer service excellence, the team were delighted to be rewarded with the award for a further three years. This nationally re-affirms the service amongst the leaders in holding both ISO:9001 Quality Management System and Charter Mark.

Exciting Partnerships Launched

We are delighted to announce the launch of our first two partnerships under the Partner Authority Scheme with colleagues at CBS Business Furniture Ltd and Linden Homes. Although at an early stage, we will be working hard to offer a first class building control service to our customers, on any of their developments anywhere in England and Wales.

The partnership scheme enables any LABC customer to work with their preferred local authority for Building Control approval anywhere in England and Wales. Success can be achieved in a spirit of co-operation and partnership which is the very basis of the LABC Partner Authority Scheme.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you by providing added value to your projects, whilst ensuring consistent regulatory compliance simply and effectively. Please ring Roger Paine on 01628 796880, who will be happy to help build an effective partnership for the future.

Accessibility By Design Guide Launched

Our revised Berkshire Access Guide has been launched; it gives clear, simple illustrated guidance and design advice on the requirements of Approved Document M. The guide now includes advice on the relevant issues dealing with the design of means of escape within buildings. An electronic version is available on the Downloads web page and allows instant access to the information you require. Hard copies are also available from the Building Control Team on: 01628 796870.

Scheme of Charges 2008

Charges may be paid by either debit/credit cards, cash or cheques, made payable to RBWM. Our Charges web page explains how you may make these payments. Please find below our Scheme of Charges which are applicable to applications submitted from 1st April 2008

Scheme of Charges April 2008 (pdf) 199kb