News

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) is seeking opinions on proposed changes to permitted development rights. These are designed to support the delivery of housing in England by allowing more development to be carried out using permitted development rights rather than full planning permission.

LABC’s qualifications programme goes from strength to strength with new professional membership options for the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) now available for successful candidates.

Anyone passing LABC’s level 3 qualification will now be eligible for CABE technician membership and level 4 and 5 success gives eligibility for CABE associate membership.

The MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) have launched a consultation on proposed changes to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm regulations and Approved Document

LABC Warranty have published a canopy roof checklist to provide installers with technical details and help to comply with the requirements of the building regulations.

The checklist includes details for: 

• Sited Formed Canopies
• Prefabricated (GRP) Canopies
• Site Formed and Prefabricated Canopies over Habitable Accommodation

Download the canopy roof checklist here

A further 25 teams have joined the LABC Quality Management System meaning just a handful of local authority teams are still to join the scheme. Five authorities – Allerdale, Gateshead, Maidstone, Newham and Wigan were all audited as part of the process and not a single non-conformance was found.

The LABC quality management standards demonstrate that a team’s procedures, training and management meet the internationally recognised and consistent ISO standard.

The Welsh and UK governments have both launched stimulus programmes this year that aim to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, boost the economy and open the door to new green industries.

The Welsh government is giving a further £10m to a programme launched in August 2020 that aims to transform social housing across Wales while the Green Homes Grant in England is part of a wider coronavirus stimulus package announced in recent months.

Because we aren't able to bring our technical seminars or roadshows to you in person at the moment, LABC will be hosting our Technical Seminars virtually on Wednesday 18 November and 16 December.

Following a rise in the conversion of men's and women's toilets to gender neutral in recent years, the UK government has launched an open consultation to decide on the proper provision of gender-specific toilets in public spaces. 

LABC is delighted to learn that Ken Scott, Head of Inspectorate at the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) has become an  MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

A blueprint to improve competence for those working on higher-risk buildings and drive culture change has been set out by a cross-industry group representing more than 150 organisations in the fire and built environment industries.

Setting the Bar is the second and final report of the Competence Steering Group [CSG] and is an update of its Interim Report, Raising the Bar, published in August 2019. The work was initiated by the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s review Building a Safer Future.