Partner Article

Building Regulations - Extensions of Time

With Watson Burton LLP Law Firm

On 10 March 2008 the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/671) were made which come into force on 6 April 2008. This instrument amends the Building Regulations 2000 by extending the provisions of section 35A of the Building Act 1984.

Since 2000 and until 6 April 2008, the time limit in which Local Authorities can bring an action for breach of the Building Regulations is 6 months from the date of the completion of the offending work, under section 127(1) of the Magistrates Court Act 1980. Section 35A of the Building Act 1984 (inserted by the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006) allows for an extension of this time limit to 2 years from commission of the offence subject to the requirement that, within this period, any prosecution is brought within 6 months of there being sufficient evidence to do so. This prevents the Local Authority from delaying their action for any reason and prompts them to bring a prosecution as soon as they are able to do so.

Until 6 April 2008 the extension of time applies to prosecution for breaches of designated provisions which include if they were made for the purpose of conserving fuel or power, reducing greenhouse gas emissions or if the breach would be an offence under section 35 of the Act. These were the only circumstances under which the extension of time could apply.Under the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2008, from 6 April 2008 onwards, this extension of time for the Local Authority to bring an action will be widened to include the designation of provisions to other areas of the Regulations. Note that this will not apply in relation to a contravention of any new provision which was committed before the date of commencement. These are:

• Regulation 4 - requirements relating to building work; and
• Regulation 6 - requirements relating to material change of use,

To the extent that part L of schedule 1 to the Building Regulations (conservation of fuel and power) imposes a requirement; and

• Regulation 4A - requirements relating to thermal elements,
• Regulation 4B - requirements relating to a change of energy status,
• Regulation 17C - new buildings: target CO2 emission rate,
• Regulation 17D - consequential improvements to energy performance.

The Regulations also amend the Act by substituting EC Certification Limited as one of the bodies which are able to register persons for the purposes of self-certification schemes (where a person can self-certify that work complies with building regulations). This comes from a change of ownership of the self-certification scheme which was formerly owned by BRE Certification Limited.

Ultimately, one of the aims of the Housing and Regeneration Bill is to make all breaches of the Building Regulations subject to the extension of time for prosecution. This is currently in discussion in Parliament and so is yet to be finalised but in the meantime there needs to be awareness of the current changes so that no-one is caught out by the Government’s attempt to deter non-compliance with the Building Regulations.

Further information is available at www.communities.gov.uk or www.opsi.gov.uk. If you have any questions on this subject or any other construction matter, please contact Anthony Otterson at Watson Burton LLP (anthony.otterson@watsonburton.com).

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .