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Building Regulations - Revised Part G
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The daily dose of the expenses scandal during May completely overwhelmed the long awaited announcement that Revised Part G of the Building Regulations had been published.
The new regulations were laid before parliament on May 13th 2009. They signal a step change in both safety and water efficiency in the bathroom and have been welcomed by members of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association.
Provided that this document is formally cleared by the European Commission under the European standards directive it will become law in October 2009. Every new house will need to conform with the new regulations.

Water efficiency in a property is one of the key requirements of Part G. A new water efficiency standard of 125 litres per person per day for new homes will be required and developers will have their work cut out to ensure that their buildings fully conform. The Code for Sustainable Homes has been working well for over twelve months but it sets only voluntary water efficiency targets. Part G goes a step further, making it a mandatory standard.
“Creating homes which are more water efficient should be welcomed by us all,” commented Yvonne Orgill chief executive of the BMA. “But it was so disappointing that this good news story was swamped by the furore over MPs expenses. We should have seen much more about it in the daily press. Water efficiency is so important.”
Members of the BMA are industry innovators and are always keen to stay ahead of the curve. They have been busy designing products which meet, and in some cases exceed, the requirements of these new regulations. Housing developers now have a growing range of bathroom products to choose from which will help them build houses which fully conform.
“Having set the standard for water efficiency in newly built properties our focus of attention must now turn to the existing housing stock” says Orgill. “Water efficient products are widely available and we need to encourage home owners to consider them for their bathroom refurbishment.”
In order to assist developers, installers and consumers the BMA is continuing to develop it’s Water Efficient Product Labelling Scheme at http://www.water-efficiency.org.uk/. Users can search the site for the best performing products to suit their particular needs. The scheme is recognised by government and industry leaders as the leading source of water efficient product information.
Further Information
For further information please email info@bathroom-association.org.uk or
telephone 01782 747123 and visit www.bathroom-association.org
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