Circular letter: Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (England)

City of London

Source page 1

To:

The Chief Executive

Unitary, Metropolitan, District and London Borough Councils in England

County and County Borough Councils in Wales

The Town Clerk, City of London The Clerk, Council of the Isles of Scilly The Sub-Treasurer, Inner Temple The Under Treasurer, Middle Temple

The Head of Building Control Unitary Metropolitan, District and London Borough Councils in England

County and County Borough Councils in Wales

City of London

13April 2016 Council of the Isles of Scilly

Approved Inspectors

cc:The Chief Executive: County Councils in England National Park Authorities in England & Wales

The Chief Fire Officer: Fire and Rescue Authorities in England & Wales

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Building (Amendment) Regulations 2016

I am writing to inform you of the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/490) (the “Amendment Regulations”) which were made on 11 April 2016 and laid before Parliament on 13 April 2016. The Amendment Regulations amend the Building Regulations 2010. The Amendment Regulations introduce a new Part R in Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations (physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks).

Scope of this Circular Letter

The guidance in this Circular Letter applies to buildings and building work in England, and also to excepted energy buildings in Wales.1

Publications

The Amendment Regulations are available at: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/490/regulation/2/made

DCLG Circular 04/2016, which describes the amendments more fully, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-amendment-regulations-2016- circular-042016

The Government response to the consultation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/new-part-r-of-the-building-regulations

The Approved Document for Part R is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-speed-electronic-communications-networks- approved-document-r

Coming into force date

The Amendment Regulations come into force on 9 May 2016. However, there is a transitional period in place meaning that compliance with the new requirements in the Regulations will only apply where a building regulations application is submitted after 31 December 2016. Approved Document R will come into force only on 1 January 2017.

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New Part R (in-building physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks) in Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010

Building control bodies will wish to note the following:

•Part R transposes the requirements of Directive 2014/61/EU into English law. The guiding principle of Directive 2014/61/EU is to contribute to a reduction of the future costs and obstacles to deploy superfast broadband. It should be noted that a standard copper telephone cable, when connected to a service provider’s fibre network, can currently deliver superfast broadband speeds of up to 70 Mbps.

•Part R requires that all new buildings are adequately equipped with the necessary infrastructure to support a connection to superfast broadband rather than provide the connection itself.

•The requirement only considers internal physical infrastructure required for the building, and not any infrastructure that may be placed within the site curtilage or boundary, as this is outside of the scope of the Directive. Any site-wide infrastructure that may be required should be installed by the developer in consultation with their preferred telecoms provider.

•Regarding major renovation works, Part R requirements only apply where the existing in-building physical infrastructure is being renovated, either wholly or across a significant part. The Part R requirement will therefore only apply to change of use projects and extensions where building work (i.e. work requiring a building regulations application) encompasses modifications to a significant part of the existing in-building physical infrastructure.

•We have provided for exemptions to the requirements, including an exemption for major renovation works if the cost of compliance with Requirement R1 would be disproportionate to the benefit gained. It is anticipated that there would be very few instances where this exemption would be acceptable. Building Control Bodies should make a case by case assessment as to whether costs in meeting the requirement are disproportionate to the benefits of enabling superfast access to broadband.

Enquiries

Any enquiries about this Circular Letter should be addressed to enquiries.br@communities.gsi.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

R J Ledsome

Deputy Director

Building Regulations and Energy Performance Division