Assent May 2012 News Letter

Solutions In this issue News

1

London Calling!

1

Part L & Building Regs changes

2

Assent Services

3

Project News

3-4

Assent International - Adventures in Israel

4

Social News/Events

4

New Starters and Recruitment

4

Football News

4

And Finally

4

May 2012

London calling!

News Welcome! 2012 continues to be a year of progression despite the perceived state of the economy. We continue to bring on now clients and expand the business with new offices and new members of staff.

Assent Building Control continues to grow in 2012 and following continued growth and opportunities in the London market we have opened a new office in the heart of the capital.

Hospitality Many of our offices will be holding their own events in the year however at Head Office we have several events already planned. We will be holding our annual summer BBQ on June 14th which has a Olympic theme this year and two sporting greats as special guests. A week later we will be hosting our 3rd annual Golf Day, however this year it will be held for the first time at Fulford Golf Club!

The new office will be manned by a familiar Assent face in Peter Whiteside. Peter has progressed through the ranks at the head office in Wakefield dealing with some of our key clients and looks to maintain these links while expanding our portfolio of clients in central London.

Part L 2013 As mentioned in the January news letter the government have published a fresh consultation document on the proposed changes to Part L 2013 and other aspects of the Approved Documents. We will are running a number of seminars to update our clients. Details on remaining seminars below!

The central London location makes Assent one of only a handful of Approved Inspectors to have an office in the centre of London providing a local dedicated service to our clients.

Peter can be contacted via email at peter@assentbc.co.uk 22nd May—Manchester Missed it, Could we visit you??? or at the following; Contact Manchester office for details!

12th June—Liverpool Contact Liverpool office for places Assent Building Control Ltd The Hot House

Assent International!

1-5 Offord Street, London, N1 1DH Yes Assent has gone international with a project in conjunction with the RICS. Please see the back page for Tel: 0207 607 8953 further details. email: adminlondon@assentbc.co.uk © Assent Building Control Assent Building Control Ltd, Assent House, 4 Navigation Court, Calder Park, Wakefield. WF2 7BJ t: 01924 229180 • f: 01924 250387 • Registered in England: No. 5311596

Legal Changes

The Future of Building Regulations in England

This year has seen the government issue a series of four consultation papers which sets out the detailed proposals on the development of the building regulations and lay down the forthcoming changes to various Building Regulations:

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Section one - Introduction to the consultation package and proposals on Parts A, B, C, K, M and N, Access Statements, security, Changing Places toilets and Regulation 7

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Section Two - Part L (Conservation of fuel and power)

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Section three - Part P (Electrical safety - dwellings)

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Section four - the building control system.

Assent are currently delivering and organising seminars around the country on these changes however if you have not been able to make one of our seminars or we have not come to your area yet do not worry! Assent are happy to provide free in house seminars to groups of 8 or more on these changes.

A key area on the changes relate to Approved Document L which is due to change again next year. The consultation proposals drive for tighter carbon dioxide emission standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. This takes us on the next step towards 'zero carbon' standards not only for new build projects but it puts tighter performance standards for works to existing buildings. Recent research in the consultation has identified that action is needed by industry to tackle the risk of discrepancy between the energy performance of buildings as calculated at the design stage and the as-built performance of the same buildings.

The process has also identified concerns about the level of compliance (whether wilful or due to lack of awareness or technical factors in the construction process) with the Building Regulations. The future changes will recognise that the complexity of compliance plays its part in this and hope that action to address the complexity of design may help deal with the issues relating to on site compliance. The consultation discusses possible measures to start tackling these issues, including the introduction of an ‘enabling framework’ which aims to incentivise developers and architects to develop and adopt quality processes, where they do not already work to such a scheme.

Below is a timetable for the implementation of the proposed changes.

May 2012 New look ‘plain English’ draft Approved Document K out for comment and use if you should wish to try it out. The document ties together the differences between Part K, Part M, Part N and BS 8300— In the next news letter we will look at Part K and what the changes are in detail.

April 2013 Regulations on new build standards, performance standards for works to existing buildings and other consequential improvements laid in Parliament October 2013 New build standards and performance standards for works to existing buildings come into force April 2014 Other consequential improvements (domestic boiler and window replacements, and specified other non-domestic works) come into force

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! Is this news letter useful to you? Do you find it informative? What would you like to see more of, what would you like to hear less about? Please let us know as this news letter is for you!

MORE

just than Building Control

Solving Problems

Services you can get from Assent Service

Contact

Building Control plan checking and inspections

Click for Local Assent Office

Free pre-submission advice

Click for Local Assent Office

you know that although Building Control SAP/SBEM energy assessments is our core business Assent Building control offers more!

Code for Sustainable Homes Assessments Assent has now grown to provide more than just Fire Engineering Building Control. We aim to offer solutions for all aspects of construction from Pre Planning advice to Access Audits post completion Fire Risk Assessments.

Click for Local Assent Office

Key services have been listed here and for more in- Planning Advice/Consultant formation you can see our website or contact the head office in the first instance at Education & Training enquiries@assentbc.co.uk or on 01924 229180. We can then point you in the direction of your local Compliance Monitoring Assent Office or to our specialist service providers.

Assent Planning andy@assentplg.co.uk

Did

Assent Head Office 01924 229180 Assent Head Office 01924 229180 Assent Head Office 01924 229180

Assent Head Office 01924 229180 Assent Head Office 01924 229180

Project News—Assent in Custody Assent has been certifying the design and construction of the new North Yorkshire Police Station in Harrogate by GB Building Solutions and architects McBains Cooper; a 13 month site programme which was signed off this week.

The new building offers a 16 cell custody facility with office accommodation over the first and second floors. Balancing the needs for prisoner security, staff safety and safety in fire were key to this project. Assent was able to assist the design process using guidance from BS9999 and the Home Office. The building has also been constructed to high sustainability standards achieving BREEAM Excellent status. It incorporates the use of technologies such as solar and photovoltaic panels and air source heat pumps which contribute to the highly efficient energy rating. The building achieved a 3.55 pressure test result which we consider as very good considering the range of construction techniques employed, and reflected the detailed design and on site construction standards. Words & Photos by Amy Turner.

(Wakefield Office Project Manager) amy@assentbc.co.uk

© Assent Building Control Assent Building Control Ltd, Assent House, 4 Navigation Court, Calder Park, Wakefield. WF2 7BJ t: 01924 229180 • f: 01924 250387 • Registered in England: No. 5311596

Adventures in Israel Recently Martin Conlon from our head office has spent a week out in Israel as part of a team from the RICS helping the Israel government modernise their building control process.

Martin has been tasked to train up Building Control officers on a new system of building control based on the English system which can be adopted in the coming years.

Assent are the only Building Control body involved in the development of this system and are pleased to be associated with the RICS in this venture. For further information on this unique project please contact Martin Conlon on 01924 229180 or at martin@assentbc.co.uk

Social Activities/Events

Summer Hog Roast!

Now in its third year the Assent/GB Building Solutions summer barbeque is taking on an Olympic theme. Those who have been before know how successful the event has been over the last two years and this year promises to surpass that .

For those of you with a competitive spirit, we’re hosting our very own Olympic games, with trophies presented by Great Britain’s 2012 boxing team captain, Tom Stalker!

Please join us for an informal drink and a bite to eat as a networking opportunity with likeminded professionals.  Draught beers supplied by Ossett Breweries, wines

Assent Golf Day 2012 Building Control Head Tee Off! Assent Office will be holding its annual golf day at Fulford near York on June 21st.

Fulford was home to several PGA European Tour events including the Benson and Hedges International Open between 1971 and 1989. Memorably, during the 1981 tournament, Bernhard Langer climbed the tree by the 17th green to play his third shot. We don’t foresee Brian Hill copying Langer by scaling a tree to take a shot!

For further details on this event contact Brian Hill via email on brian@assentbc.co.uk

New Starters and Movers As part of our expansion and improved coverage we have some new members of staff who have joined us.

Stephen Dunn has joined us to cover Nuneaton, Neil Robinson & Ian Wright are in Colchester and John Griffiths has added coverage in the Walsall area.

Mark Fletcher has also moved to larger premises in Sheffield. The move follows sustained growth in the Sheffield area during the last few years.

Football News!

Mark Fletcher from our Sheffield office sponsors Bulls Head FC a local grass roots football club in Sheffield which have just won promotion to the Premier League. Pictured here is Mark and Manager Paul Baxter-Gibson with cup trophy won earlier in the season and the BlADES Superdraw league 1 title trophy.

and soft drinks Hog Roast, vegetarian options and selection of freshly made salads Enter a team for fun. Games to include tug of war, archery, sack race and more Meet Team GB’s 2012 boxing team captain Tom Stalker Q&A session with former WBO Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe!!

And Finally..Caption competition!

For reservations at this ticket only event please contact Kay Rowley on 01924 229180 or at kay@assentbc.co.uk

The winner of our last competition was Simon Lawson from the ‘Harris Design Partnership’ in Wakefield with the line “Where does the tanking membrane go?” Well Done Simon!

   

Send us your caption for the above photograph and the best one will win a bottle of Champagne.

E-mail your entry to martin@assentbc.co.uk before 15th July in order to enter.

STOP PRESS..... Good News! The Hope Challenge mentioned in our last issue has been postponed. The event will now be taking place over the weekend of 28th - 30th September in the Peak District. Please sponsor this special event. Contact saira@assentbc.co.uk