A delay to the publication of revisions to regulations that govern the energy efficiency of buildings, considered crucial for delivering the UK’s carbon targets, could put back implementation of the changes by up to six months, industry figures have warned.
In March, the Budget statement committed the government to “publish a detailed plan, setting out its response” to its 2012 consultation on changes to Part L of the Building Regulations by May 2013. But that announcement has not materialised. The Part L regulations set out the energy efficiency requirements for buildings and are critical to the introduction of the zero-carbon homes requirement in 2016 – a key part of the government’s commitment to cut the UK’s carbon emissions.
The government’s preferred option in its consultation, which closed in April 2012, would see an 8% hike in carbon efficiency standards for new homes and 20% for commercial buildings. Sources close to the situation told Building this week that proposals were expected to be published before the start of parliament’s summer recess on 18 July, but that they was unlikely to contain all the details of the changes. One source said the delay meant the original implementation date of October 2013 now looked “highly unlikely”, largely because successive governments have always given industry six months to prepare for changes in regulation.
The preparation period is important for adjustments to be made to the SAP and SBEM systems used to calculate energy requirement compliance and in order to give manufacturers time to develop products to meet the new requirements. Convention also dictates that changes to Building Regulations come into force in either April or October, leading sources to expect that the changes will not now come into force until April 2014.
The hold-up is understood to be caused by protracted discussions between the communities department and other departments about a number of provisions in the regulations. Fears have been compounded by the fact that a meeting of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) scheduled for last week was cancelled. The government is required to consult BRAC on changes to building regulations.
Hywel Davies, technical director at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, said designers were having to model buildings twice because of the uncertainty, adding to costs.
“It’s taking money away from other projects and in some cases the work is not being done at all because [clients] are saying: ‘Until we have some certainty we won’t bother’. That isn’t good for growth,” he said.
When asked if the government was still committed to the October implementation date a communities department spokesperson declined to say, adding: “The department is still working on the Part L announcement, which will be made in due course.”