Seven finalists in London Region LABC Awards
Seven schemes in Havering were shortlisted for
the London Region Local Authority
Building Control (LABC) Awards.
The shortlisted schemes were:
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Rainham
Library (pictured) in two categories – best public service building and
best social or affordable new housing development
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The former Woolpack Public House, Angel Way, Romford
in three categories – best change of use of existing building or conversion;
best high volume new housing development and best social or affordable new
housing development
-
Dave Owers of Rooff
Limited for LABC site supervisor of the year
- KMDS Designs of Hornchurch, for best partnership with a local authority building control
team.
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 The winners were announced during a gala ceremony at The Guildhall in the City of London.
Pictured at the ceremony are Havering Council's Ron Adams and Peter Berry, with Bob Hull (winner of the Best Site
Manager category, who works for NU-Living (Swan New Homes), Martin Farley and Lee Britton both from NU-Living (Swan New Homes). Swan New Homes built the development at Angel Way, Romford, which was nominated in three categories.
More information on the LABC Awards here.
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Code for
Sustainable Homes gone
The Government
has withdrawn the Code for Sustainable Homes, which means that Councils will
now only be able to impose certain nationally agreed sustainability levels as a
planning requirement for new residential developments, the technical details of
which will be contained within the Building Regulations.
What this means:
- New planning applications
for housing will not be required to achieve any specific Code for
Sustainable Homes standards
- A range of standards for
access and water efficiency will be applied to new schemes by planning,
some of which provide a higher standard than the minimum national building
regulations – these technical standards will be enforced through the
Building Regulation process
- Space standards will be
nationally described and will be implemented through the planning system
- A new
security standard has been included in the Building Regulations (Part
Q)
- Waste storage standards
will now be properly considered in new housing development
- All existing planning
applications (or when a site has started) will need to continue with Code
standards (unless the condition is removed)
- Housing Association and
RSLs will still need to apply Code standards under the National Affordable
Housing Programme.
More information available by email here.
Charges from 1 April
New charges for building control work came into
force from Wednesday 1 April.
Overall there has been a small increase, around one per
cent, in the fees charged.
There are two major changes to the fees schedule:
There is a 25 per cent discount for some small works
carried out at the same time as an extension.
When full plans applications are deposited you now
need to pay the full building control fee at the same time.
The full details can be seen here.
New free thermal bridging
guide
Improving
the thermal performance of building envelopes is an urgent priority in the
drive for sustainability and energy efficiency. Weak junction points are a
particularly important area as they allow heat to leak out and can also create
cold spots internally.
Understanding
how heat moves through building components, affecting surface temperatures and
condensation is vital and a new guide aims to help designers, specifiers and
engineers deal with the various complex issues involved.
More details available here.
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More information
More information is available on Havering Council's Building Control webpages.
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Save your time
and book site
visits online
It’s now easy to book visits by Building Control officers by using our
online service, which is available 24/7 and guarantees you a visit on the next working day.
By booking outside office hours you get ahead of those trying to book by
telephone.
If you book online before 10am you will get an appointment for the same day
if required.
Sign up to Havering's My Account to use this service.
Book
a site visit online here.
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 Sign up for My Account
Use Havening Council’s online Report It and
Pay for It services by signing up for a free My
Account.
Simply click on the link, add your contact details, create a password
and wait for the activation email to appear in your inbox, click on that email
and you’re ready to use the service
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Available for you 24/7
You can use our online service to make your applications or book a site visit:
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 Keep illegal and substandard timber and boards off your site
There have been concerns about the structural integrity of some of the cheaper ply on the market, particularly when it gets wet, which can lead to failure.
Government research has shown illegal species of timber are being used as only one in 16 suppliers was found to be compliant with the EU Timber Regulations (EUTR).
This regulation puts obligations on those who trade in timber and timber-related products.
Analysis by the National Measurement Office (NMO) also found nine out of 13 samples of imported Chinese plywood contained unauthorised timber products from high-risk areas such as parts of Africa and Papua New Guinea.
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How to keep this plywood off your site:
-
Insist
on full Forest Stewardship Council®
(FSC®) or Programme for the Endorsement of
Forest Certification (PEFC) certification when ordering
plywood. This ensures that your plywood is from a legal and sustainable source
- Make sure that the supplier’s Chain of Custody
certificate number is noted on the delivery ticket against the plywood to
confirm this
- Don’t default to Far Eastern ply - look at alternatives
such as Spruce ply, a softwood ply manufactured in Scandinavia. It can be used
for any application that Far Eastern ply would be used for, including hoarding
to shuttering
- Be careful when ordering Marine Plywood. There is limited
availability of FSC/PEFC-certified Marine Ply, so carry out additional checks
on the source to make sure you are getting what you pay for
-
Go for alternative materials such as Norbord or Coillte. Both produce a
cost-effective Orientated Strand Board (also known as OSB and Stirling Board),
are fully FSC-certified as legal and sustainable and, in the case of Norbord,
source materials are grown in Britain, which helps to support our forestry
sector.
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 Detailed information
You can click on the links below for more detailed information on the following subjects:
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