Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and shall come into force on 1st April 2002.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Building Act 1984; and

“the principal Regulations” means the Building Regulations 2000(2).

Amendment of the Building Regulations 2000

2.—(1) The principal Regulations shall be amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation), in the definition of “controlled service or fitting” in paragraph (1), for the words “Part G, H or J” there shall be substituted the words “Part G, H, J or L”.

(3) In regulation 3(1) (meaning of building work), in sub-paragraph (b), before the words “the provision or” there shall be inserted the words “subject to paragraph (1A),”.

(4) After regulation 3(1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(1A) The provision or extension of a controlled service or fitting—

(a)in or in connection with an existing dwelling; and

(b)being a service or fitting in relation to which paragraph L1, but not Part G, H or J, of Schedule 1 imposes a requirement,

shall only be building work where that work consists of the provision of a window, rooflight, roof window, door (being a door which together with its frame has more than 50 per cent of its internal face area glazed), a space heating or hot water service boiler, or a hot water vessel.”.

(5) In regulation 6 (requirements relating to material change of use), in paragraph (1)(a)—

(a)after “G2 (bathrooms)” there shall be inserted “H1 (foul water drainage)”;

(b)for “H4” there shall be substituted “H6”;

(c)for the words “heat producing appliances” there shall be substituted the words “combustion appliances”;

(d)after the words “conservation of fuel and power” there shall be inserted the word “-dwellings”; and

(e)at the end of the sub-paragraph there shall be added “L2 (conservation of fuel and power—buildings other than dwellings);”.

(6) In regulation 8 (limitation on requirements) after the words “A to K and N” there shall be inserted the words “(except for paragraphs H2 and J6)”.

(7) In regulation 12 (giving of a building notice or deposit of plans), after paragraph (4), there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(4A) A person shall deposit full plans where he intends to carry out building work in relation to which paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 imposes a requirement.”.

(8) In regulation 13 (particulars and plans where a building notice is given), paragraph (2)(c)(ii) shall be omitted.

(9) In regulation 14 (full plans), after paragraph (3)(a), there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(aa)where paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 imposes a requirement, particulars of the precautions to be taken in building over a drain, sewer or disposal main to comply with the requirements of that paragraph; and”.

(10) After regulation 14 there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Consultation with sewerage undertaker

14A.—(1) This regulation applies where full plans have been deposited with the local authority and paragraph H4 of Schedule 1 imposes requirements in relation to the building work which is the subject of those plans.

(2) Where this regulation applies the local authority shall consult the sewerage undertaker—

(a)as soon as practicable after the plans have been deposited; and

(b)before issuing any completion certificate in relation to the building work in accordance with regulation 17 pursuant to a request under regulation 14(5).

(3) Where a local authority is required by paragraph (2) to consult the sewerage undertaker they shall—

(a)give to the sewerage undertaker, in a case where they are consulting them following the deposit of full plans, sufficient plans to show whether the work would, if carried out in accordance with those plans, comply with the applicable requirements of paragraph H4 of Schedule 1;

(b)have regard to any views expressed by the sewerage undertaker; and

(c)not pass plans or issue a completion certificate until 15 days have elapsed from the date on which they consulted the sewerage undertaker, unless the sewerage undertaker has expressed its views to them before the expiry of that period.”.

(11) For regulation 18 there shall be substituted the following regulation—

“Testing of building work

18.  The local authority may make such tests of any building work as may be necessary to establish whether it complies with regulation 7 or any of the applicable requirements contained in Schedule 1.”.

(12) For Parts H, J and L of Schedule 1 there shall be substituted the Parts set out respectively in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Repeals and modifications of the Building Act 1984

3.—(1) Section 18 (building over sewer etc.) of the Act, and in section 21 (provision of drainage) of the Act, subsections (1) and (2), shall be repealed.

(2) In section 21(3) of the Act—

(a)for the words “(1) above” there shall be substituted the words “(4) below”; and

(b)for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the words “whether a proposed drain shall be required to connect with a sewer”.

(3) In section 21(4) of the Act for the words “A proposed drain” to “a sewer unless” there shall be substituted the following—

• “Where plans of a building or of an extension of a building are, in accordance with building regulations, deposited with a local authority, the local authority, or on appeal a magistrates' court, may require a proposed drain to connect with a sewer where”.

(4) In section 59 (drainage of building) of the Act—

(a)in subsection (1)(a) the words “as defined in section 21(2) above” shall be omitted; and

(b)after subsection (4) there shall be added the following subsection—

“(5) In subsection (1) above, “drainage” includes the conveyance, by means of a sink and any other necessary appliance, of refuse water and the conveyance of rainwater from roofs.”.

Transitional provisions

4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where before 1st April 2002 building work has commenced in accordance with—

(a)a building notice given to, or full plans deposited with, a local authority under regulation 12(2) of the principal Regulations and a notice given to the local authority under regulation 15(1) of the principal Regulations; or

(b)an initial notice, an amendment notice or a public body’s notice(3) given in accordance with section 47(1), 51A(2) or 54(1) respectively of the Act,

the principal Regulations and the provisions of the Act repealed or modified by regulation 3 shall continue to apply to that building work as if these Regulations had not been made.

(2) Where an initial notice given before 1st April 2002 is varied by an amendment notice given on or after that date, the principal Regulations and the provisions of the Act repealed or modified by regulation 3 shall continue to apply as if these Regulations had not been made, to so much of the building work as could have been carried out under that initial notice if the amendment notice had not been given.

(3) Where before 1st April 2002 full plans of building work have been deposited with a local authority in accordance with regulation 12(2) of the principal Regulations and the local authority has, before that date—

(a)given notice under section 16(6) of the Act that they have passed those plans without conditions; or

(b)signified in writing to the person by whom or on whose behalf the plans were deposited that any condition subject to which they passed the plans has been fully met,

the principal Regulations and the provisions of the Act repealed or modified by regulation 3 shall continue to apply to that building work as if these Regulations had not been made, whether or not the building work departs from those plans.

(4) Where plans of building work are the subject of a plans certificate, or a plans certificate combined with an initial notice, given to a local authority before 1st April 2002 in accordance with section 50 of the Act, and accepted by the local authority either before, on or after that date, the principal Regulations and the provisions of the Act repealed or modified by regulation 3 shall continue to apply to that building work as if these Regulations had not been made, whether or not the building work departs from those plans.

(5) Paragraphs (1) to (4) shall not apply to the amendment made by these Regulations to regulation 18 of the principal Regulations.

(6) In paragraphs (1) to (4) “building work” has the same meaning as in the principal Regulations.

Regulation 2(12)

SCHEDULEPARTS H, J AND L OF SCHEDULE 1 TO THE BUILDING REGULATIONS 2000, AS SUBSTITUTED BY THESE REGULATIONS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

1.  These Regulations amend the Building Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/2531). In addition to minor and drafting amendments the following changes of substance are made.

2.  The definition of “controlled service or fitting” in regulation 2(1) is extended to include services or fittings in relation to which Part L (conservation of fuel and power) imposes a requirement (regulation 2(2)).

3.  A new regulation 3(1A) is inserted to limit the definition of building work in relation to the provision of certain controlled services and fittings in existing dwellings (regulation 2(4)).

4.  The applicable requirements relating to material changes of use contained in regulation 6 are extended to include paragraphs H1 (foul water drainage) and L2 (conservation of fuel and power in buildings and parts of buildings other than dwellings) of Schedule 1 (regulation 2(5)).

5.  Paragraphs H2 and J6 of Schedule 1 are excluded from the limitation on requirements contained in regulation 8 (regulation 2(6)).

6.  A new regulation 12(4A) is inserted to extend the cases in which a person is required to deposit full plans and the particulars required by regulation 14 to be included in such plans are extended in consequence (regulation 2(7) and (9)).

7.  A new regulation 14A is inserted to require the local authority to consult with the sewerage undertaker in certain cases (regulation 2(10)).

8.  The powers of the local authority to test drains and private sewers contained in regulation 18 are extended to cover tests of any building work (regulation 2(11)).

9.  New Parts H, J and L of Schedule 1 are substituted for the existing Parts. The new Part H extends the existing requirements (by requiring, in H1 and H3, the provision of adequate foul water and rainwater drainage and by adding a requirement in H6 to provide a means of access to a collection point) and adds new requirements on building over sewers and separate systems of sewers and for the provision of information on wastewater treatment systems. The new Part J extends the existing requirements (by extending J1 to cover the prevention of overheating and by extending J3 to cover the risk of burns to people) and adds new requirements on the protection of liquid fuel storage systems from fire, protection against pollution and for the provision of information. The new Part L amends the existing requirements by separating the requirements which apply to dwellings and other buildings and adds new requirements on lighting systems, solar overheating, mechanical ventilation systems and for the provision of information on services (regulation 2(12) and the Schedule to the Regulations).

10.  Sections 18 and 21(1) and (2) of the Building Act 1984 are repealed and consequential amendments are made to section 21(3) and (4) and section 59 (regulation 3).

11.  Regulation 4 contains transitional provisions.

12.  The Secretary of State has approved, under section 6(1) of the Building Act 1984, new documents containing practical guidance with respect to the requirements contained in Parts H, J and L. The following Approved Documents will be published by The Stationery Office:

• Approved Document H—Drainage and Waste Disposal (2002 Edition, ISBN 011 7536075, £12);

• Approved Document J—Combustion Appliances and Fuel Storage Systems (2002 Edition, ISBN 011 7534943, £12);

• Approved Document L1—Conservation of Fuel and Power in Dwellings (2002 Edition, ISBN 011 7536091, £12);

• Approved Document L2—Conservation of Fuel and Power in Buildings other than Dwellings (2002 Edition, ISBN 011 7536105, £15).

13.  A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations. A copy may be obtained from Building Regulations Division, DTLR, Zone 3/A1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU (Tel: 020 7944 5755; Fax: 020 7944 5739; Email: bregsa.br@dtlr.gov.uk).