The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has raised concerns around ‘the delays’ by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in announcing 2013 revisions to the Building Regulations, and in particular Part L.
Writing in the December 2012 issue of the Institution’s publication, CIBSE Journal, technical director, Hywel Davies (pictured) said: “Given that the consultation on changes was launched in January this year (2012), the uncertainty over 2013 changes to Part L is holding back activity and causing additional costs in the sector, and now has a potential cost, both in terms of energy-saving opportunities and to businesses committed to better building performance.”
Hywel Davies argues that what he dubs ‘a failure to sort out changes in relation to domestic buildings’ should ‘not hold up much needed, cost-beneficial changes to Part L for the non-domestic market’.
In the article, he said: “It is not hard to see that the changes to new homes have run into trouble, being seen by HM Treasury as a burden on housebuilders, and a barrier to getting Britain building again. DCLG has proposed a 20% tightening of emissions targets for non-domestic buildings which are deemed cost-beneficial, with benefits outweighing costs over the life of the measures. But it seems that these changes are being directly affected by the fallout from the initial onslaught on the proposals for consequential improvements in the housing sector, unhelpfully and wrongly dubbed ‘the conservatory tax’.”
