Member Article

Act now to avoid costly change in building regs warns Shropshire Architect

A leading Shropshire architect has warned a change in building regulations is set to cost homeowners, builders and property developers hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Vic Johnson of Johnson Design Partnership(JDP) believes the change in Part L covering conversation of fuel and power could catch a number of people out when it comes into force on April 6th.

This will require anyone building or making modifications to residential and commercial property to seek a 6% reduction in CO2 emissions.

The experienced Architect, who founded JDP in 2002, believes people can mitigate the expense by being creative with their construction materials and exploring different forms of heating.

He also believes there is an option to pre-register and accelerate building regulations submissions with skeleton drawings that provide minimal content.

“This is a potentially expensive change in regulations and one that could cost anything from an additional £500 for a small conversion to tens of thousands of pounds for large industrial developments,” explained Vic.

“One way of mitigating these costs is to submit initial diagrams before April 6th and we’ve certainly seen a number of our clients, both existing and new, ask us to do this for them.”

He continued: “As a practice that has been committed to sustainable development for some time, we believe the new legislation could well see a move towards more innovative architecture…something we welcome with open arms.

“The 6% reduction in CO2 is achievable with the right planning, the right design and the right selection of materials. If you prepare well and attack the situation we should be able to reduce a lot of the expense you could be faced with.”

Johnson Design has worked on numerous high profile projects in the last year where it has been charged with minimising impact on the environment.

This has involved the use of new construction materials (such as engineered timber), different forms of glazing and alternative heat systems including photovoltaic panels, biomass boilers and air source heat pumps.

Vic continued: “ We have recently installed a fully integrated biomass boiler system for an off-the-grid farmhouse. It has given the clients the freedom to heat their home without a dependence on oil and its associated high cost volatility.

“Furthermore they are now able to be almost self-sufficient for most of the year as they can store a whole twelve months fuel on site. The system is self-contained and requires minimal maintenance.

“On other schemes we have incorporated both photovoltaic and solar cells in roof structures. Although the feed in tariff for photovoltaic generated energy is not as generous as it once was, the payback on solar heating systems is usually only a few years.”

Johnson Design Partnership celebrated its tenth birthday in style in 2013 with turnover hitting a record high of £330,000.

The company, which is ISO9000:2000 and ISO14001 accredited, offers a complete project management service from feasibility work and planning to detail design, monitoring and contract administration.

As part of its expansion, JDP has invested significantly into the development of its new website (www.johnsonltd.co.uk) to incorporate an interactive gallery and full usability on most smart phones and tablet devices.

For further information, please visit www.johnsonltd.co.uk, contact 01746 768191 or follow @jdpltd on twitter

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .