October 2009

The FMB Information Services Department keeps you up-to-date with new legislation.

BUILDING

NEW BUILDING REGULATIONS APPROVED DOCUMENT G: SANITATION, HOT WATER SAFETY AND WATER EFFICIENCY

A new version of Approved Document G originally due to come into effect on the 1 October 2009 is to be delayed until 6 April 2010. The revised document features enhanced hot water safety and efficiency measures for all new homes.
 
The main amendments to the Building Regulations are:

• The requirement that baths in new homes are fitted with protective measures, such as a thermostatic mixing valve, to limit the temperature of the hot water

• A water efficiency standard of 125 litres per person per day for new homes

• Extending existing safety measures to all types of hot water systems (not just vented systems)

• Setting out where grey water and harvested rainwater can be safely used.
   
  

CHANGES TO THE TRAINING LEVY IN NORTHERN IRELAND

CITB-Northern Ireland has increased the threshold at which construction companies have to pay the training levy from £15,000 to £80,000. If your company’s wage bill, including payment to sub-contractors is £80,000 or more, you will be assessed to pay the levy but if your wage bill is below this threshold, you will be exempt from the levy payment.

Further information is available at www.citbni.org.uk

PUBLIC CONTRACTS DATABASE REMOVES SUBSCRIPTION FEES

The May 2009 issue of Master Builder contained an article, ‘Helping you to survive and thrive’, which gave details of Government websites advertising public sector contracts. The website www.supply2gov.net advertises public sector contracts up to the value of £100,000. Previously SMEs were able to search these lower value contracts in a particular geographical region, free of charge. Subscription fees to search the database across all UK regions have now been removed.

March 2009

Two recent changes to regulations that will affect builders.

1. New Gas safe register to replace CORGI registration

Capita is due to take over the gas installers’ registration scheme from the existing CORGI scheme, which will run until the end of March 2009. It will be a legal requirement for anyone working with gas to be registered with the Gas Safe Register and all existing CORGI registered businesses will need to have transferred their registration by 1 April 2009.

See the Gas Safe Register web site at www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Tel: 0800 408 5577

2. Tighter restrictions on the disposal of plasterboard and gypsum

The landfilling of gypsum and other high sulphate bearing wastes with biodegradable waste has been prohibited since July 2005. Under the Landfill Directive, non-hazardous gypsum-based materials should be disposed of at landfill sites for non-hazardous waste in separate mono-cells, where no biodegradable waste is accepted.

Until recently the Environment Agency for England and Wales took a pragmatic view that separate disposal was not necessary where construction waste contained small amounts (up to 10 percent) of gypsum or other high sulphate bearing wastes, this was known as the 10 percent rule. The Agency has now revised its guidance to remove this exemption.

There is a period of grace to allow for the change, but after 1 April 2009, the Agency will take action, including prosecution, if waste containing gypsum is accepted into a landfill cell containing biodegradable waste.

From now on loads containing any identifiable gypsum based wastes must not be landfilled with biodegradable waste. Gypsum waste must be recovered and recycled wherever possible and where it is sent to landfill, it must be deposited in a seperate cell where no biodegradable waste has been accepted.

Waste management companies will need to take further measures to manage gypsum waste and there will be increasing demand for builders to collect it separately. You must not deliberately mix gypsum and other high sulphate bearing waste with other construction and demolition waste at a waste transfer facility.

The major plasterboard manufacturers have a take-back service and there is a directory of companies that recycle waste plasterboard available at www.wrap.org.uk/construction/plasterboard/plasterboard_4.html