Building Control Services

Newsletter December 2011

Cornwall Council Building Control Services attended the Lifeskills

event at Truro Fire Station during November. Surveyors spoke to

children and explained the dangers of playing on building sites.

The children enjoyed the

opportunity to speak with surveyors about the risks involved and were able to learn some of the

lessons from accidents which have happened to other youngsters in

the past.

Telling unpleasant stories without frightening children is difficult but is worth the effort to keep

youngsters safe. Surveyors who took part were Robert Deverell,

Chris Menear, Graham Rowe, Roger Bowden, Sarah Williams and Peter Keam.

Further events are planned for next year around Cornwall.

Surveyors Peter Keam and Chris Menear answer questions from the children

Plymouth City Council Building Control Services are

celebrating after one of their projects scooped a national award. The new development a Phoenix Quay was nominated in the category ‘Best Housing Large Developer or

Development’ for Linden Homes, the Developer. The nomination details included;

• Phoenix Quay is a development of 123 apartments and townhouses that has set an impressive benchmark for the

£350m regeneration of the rundown Millbay area of Plymouth.

• Millbay is the site of Plymouth’s main ferry terminal from Europe – this prominent building has given Britain a new front door.

• Starting from under £100,000, the homes have all been built to a high specification, with modern fixtures and fittings; some also include features such as open-plan

kitchens, full-length windows and balconies overlooking the sea.

• A shared garden space with granite paving, contemporary

street furniture and concealed undercroft parking all contribute to the overall look of the development.

Any problems during the project were nipped in the bud, largely thanks to the presence of Linden Homes’ committed

on-site management team.

Senior Manager Jason Hamer and his Linden Homes colleagues were delighted to attend the glittering awards

ceremony in central London, where they were presented with their award by newsreader Jon Snow.

LABC Awards

Contact Building Control Phone: 01752 304343 Email: buildcon@plymouth.gov.uk Web site: www.plymouth.gov.uk

Phone: See below Email: buildingcontrol@cornwall.gov.uk Web site: www.cornwall.gov.uk

Cornwall Inspection Lines

CENTRAL 1 (Truro) 01872 224383 CENTRAL 2 (St Austell) 01726 223322

EAST 1 (Bodmin) 01208 265658 EAST 2 (Liskeard) 01579 341470

WEST (Camborne) 01209 61442

Building Control Surveyors become teachers for the day

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Plymouth Cornwall (Figures Jan-Nov)

Full Plans check within 7 days 82% 76% against target of 40%

Full Plans check within 14 days 95.3% 96% against target of 90%

Same day inspections 98.8% 100% against target of 90% Acknowledgments sent out within 2 days 96.3% 81.7% against target of 90%

Annette Buckingham, Senior Development Officer for Cornwall West

Building Control, is the Building Control Surveyor for The Council of

the Isles of Scilly regarding all Building Control issues carrying out

regular visits to all the islands.

Annette, a keen equestrian enthusiast, juggles her day job whilst owning and

competing her horses successfully at the highest level, including The Royal

International Horse Show and The Horse of the Year Show.

Annette has recently successfully dealt with the new £15m school for the Isles of Scilly which completed and

opened three weeks ahead of schedule (Sept 2011). The school, built for students aged between 3 and 16, has 10

classrooms, laboratories and the island's first sports hall. The project also offers facilities to the whole

community for use at evenings and weekends. The school is said to be the newest in the state system offering 3

to 16 education under one roof – giving a seamless transition all the way through.

Kier Western undertook the design and build contract, working closely with the designers, Grainge Architects,

the local community, the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the Duchy of Cornwall, Cornwall Building Control and

project managers, Mace.

Another large project on the Isles of Scilly is the demolition and redevelopment of the Island Hotel site on

Tresco opening May 2012. Symons Construction, of St Ives, the main contractor are developing the site into

luxury apartments, new restaurants and other facilities for Tresco Estate. Annette is working closely with both

the contractor and the architects, Llewellyn Harker Ltd, who are based in Somerset.

Tresco Hotel which has been demolished. Isles of Scilly School

Cornwall provides Building Control Services for The Isles of Scilly

LABC partnership news

Commercial Concepts of Ivybridge have recently become partners with Plymouth BC.

Commercial concepts specialise in

bespoke commercial fit outs.

Meet the Plymouth Building Control Technical Support Team

Amanda West - Amanda has been an integral part of the Plymouth Building Control technical support crew for the last 5 years. Amanda is also a well known local artist and has work displayed in various buildings around the South West and also has commissioned high profile projects in the past. She also enjoys music and list Coldplay and Beyonce among her favourites. (Pictured right) Nigel Ward - Nigel is the longest serving member of our Tech support team. He has been in the Plymouth BC office for almost 9 years and has a wealth of experience. Nigel is also a very keen runner and has participated in numerous marathons throughout Europe. Nigel also is very keen on music of all types and is a poptastic genius! (Pictured right) Adam Williams. Adam is one of the newest members of the tech support team but also works half of his working week as a planning officer and is currently studying for his Masters in Planning . Adam is a very keen surfer and amateur scientist and is up to date with all the latest technological gadgets.

Des makes the grade…..

Des Heath has recently been successful in achieving

full membership to the Association of Building

Engineers. Des has been working towards his full

membership over the last tow years and follwoign a

recent trip tjo the ABE headquarters hfor the final

interview

Partner news

Peninsular provides High quality contemporary student

accommodation located on the doorstep of the Peninsula

Medical School, Peninsula Dental School (PCMD), the

Peninsula Allied Health Centre (PAHC), UCP Marjon and

Derriford Hospital. A total of 123 student bedrooms are

arranged in cluster flats within 2 multi-storey timber frame

buildings. The buildings are BREEAM rated Excellent with

high levels of insulation, cycle storage, on site management

and a car club. The project was completed on site within 12

months in time for the 2011-12 academic year.

This project was submitted by Dave Vickerstaff of

the Architects Design Group who we worked closely with

from pre application stage through to completion.

Finished on site………

Plymouth Building Control Website The new look website is almost complete

and should be live within the next week. Thank you to everyone who has provided

ideas which Des Heath has been collecting and inputting. The final tweaks are currently being updated so please

keep checking the website address www.plymouth.gov.uk/buildingcontrol

A new building regulations application form will be available to download

together with a section 80 application for demolition works. The key change to the new site is that there will be more technical information and guidance notes available to freely download.

The Energy Act 2011 includes provisions for the new 'Green

Deal', which intends to reduce carbon emissions cost

effectively by revolutionising the energy efficiency of British

properties. The new innovative Green Deal financial

mechanism eliminates the need to pay upfront for energy

efficiency measures and instead provides reassurances that

the cost of the measures should be covered by savings on the

electricity bill.

At a local level, the Green Deal will enable many households

and businesses to improve the energy efficiency of their

properties so less energy is consumed and less money is

wasted. The assessment for the domestic sector will be in two parts.

• Assessment of the fabric of the building resulting in an

improved Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

• Occupancy assessment to take into account additional

information about the way the current householder(s)

use the property.

The assessment method for non-domestic buildings will build

upon the existing SBEM methodology for producing an EPC,

taking into account the way the existing occupants use the

building to produce estimated energy savings and

recommendations.

Green Deal Advisors will need to be qualified and authorised.

It is anticipated that learning providers will begin to offer

training that leads to a Green Deal Advisor

certificate/qualification from April/May 2012. Further

information will be provided about routes for the Accreditation

of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) in early 2012.

Green Deal Advisors will need to be active members of an

accredited Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)

Accreditation Scheme for either Domestic Energy Assessors

(DEAs) or Non-Domestic Energy Assessors (NDEAs), as

appropriate to the sector they intend to provide Green Deal

assessments for.

It is proposed to allow Green Deal providers to include the

following costs in a Green Deal plan:

• Preparatory/Make good costs

• Unexpected costs

• Cost of the assessment

• Cash back

Green Deal CPD

CPD Last month’s CPD seminar was

facilitated by a Plymouth based company, Prestige Solar. Prestige specialise in the installation of fitting

high quality solar panels throughout the south west and provided an extremely informative seminar on the

types of panels available, best practice on how to install and the recent government changes to the feed in

tariff. The breakfast time slot yet again proved to be very popular and well over 40 delegates were in

attendance for the 8.30 start. This particular event was also advertised and staged through the Association of

Building Engineers (ABE) which attracted professionals from a large catchment area.

We continue to hold CPD seminars on a regular basis and are happy to do our best to organise training on topics

that may be of use to you. Please contact Guy Cooper on guy.cooper@plymouth.gov.uk for CPD

in Plymouth or Sarah Williams on Sarah.Williams@cornwall.gov.uk in Cornwall if you would like to be added

to our mailing list. We will keep you informed of events from other professional bodies such as ABE,

CIOB, RICS, LABC or the Construction Excellence Plymouth Club.

A further solar CPD event is being

planned for late January at Camborne. Please book through Sarah Williams.

Extended Services

Extended Services (ES) is part of Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration Service and provides

discretionary services. These are additional services that Cornwall Council has the power to, but is not

obliged to provide.

The launch of ES in September allowed the provision of a Part L compliance check which includes SAP and

EPC calculations. ES are now building on their success to offer Design SAP calculations which will provide

officer input into the design to ensure compliance with Part L.

Cornwall Extended Services team on 01209 614420 or extendedservices@cornwall.gov.uk

Plymouth Extended Services Team on 01752 304343 or buildcon@plymouth.gov.uk

The next phase of ES is now live with the qualification of Martin Pipet (pictured below) as an SBEM assessor. Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) calculation and an Energy

Performance Certificate (EPC) are a mandatory requirement for any new build commercial property and any existing building that is converted into a greater or lesser number of commercial units and where there have been changes to the heating, hot water provision or

air conditioning/ventilation services.

An SBEM and EPC is also required for a commercial extension that has a total useful floor area of 100m2 and is greater than 25% of the total useful floor area of the existing building.

SBEM is used to show compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations and is applied at the design stage of the build process.

Extended Services SBEM team can provide calculations for:

• New build commercial properties

• Commercial extensions, having a total useful floor area of >100m2 and when the

extension is greater than 25% of the total useful floor area of the existing building

• Buildings that are converted into a greater or lesser number of commercial units and

there are changes to the heating, hot water provision or air conditioning/ventilation

services

For more information please contact Martin Pipet 01208 265658

Martin Pipet

Extended Services News – SBEM Applications

Lizard Lifeboat Station

BAM Nuttall, main contractor, handed over the lifeboat station to the RNLI in October. Work commenced in May 2010 and took 18 months in all winds and weathers, to complete.

Stratus Edmonds Architects worked closely with Poole Borough Council using the partnership scheme, with Cornwall Council undertaking the inspections. The close links between Cornwall

and Poole created a smooth application and construction process. At a cost of £7.4m the new station is located 140 feet down over the cliff, and is almost double

the size of the old station and is accessed by almost 200 steps.

At the end of November, Guy Cooper and Michael Medland from Plymouth Building Control presented a lecture to the level 3 site carpentry and bench joinery students at City College, Plymouth. The lecture highlighted to the students how and why the building regulations came into effect, an overview of the Approved Documents/British Standards, the statutory duties of building control and how difficult buildability issues are proactively resolved on site. John Bolt of City College commented that "This being the first year that we have included full time students in a course with Apprentices and we had no idea how sessions would run, let alone a lecture on Building Control ! The lecture was pitched perfectly making the subject relevant and interesting". The session also included a case study on the construction block refurbishment at City College that was designed by Dean Luxton at Atkins. Works have very recently finished on the site and the main college tower block has been re clad and thermally upgraded to current standards. Morgan Sindall were the main contractor.

Out and about in the community

Association of Building Engineers

South West Region presents

KNOWLEDGE IS

POWER The Renewable Revolution

A Conference for Construction

Professionals and Comprehensive

Trade Exhibition

21 March 2012

Doors open 8.30

Conference 9.45-16.00

Exhibition: Open All Day

at

The Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton,

Ilchester, Somerset BS22 8HT

Email: southwest@abe.org.uk for further details

Contact Building Control Phone: 01752 304343 Email: buildcon@plymouth.gov.uk Web site: www.plymouth.gov.uk

Phone: See below Email: buildingcontrol@cornwall.gov.uk Web site: www.cornwall.gov.uk

Cornwall Inspection Lines

CENTRAL 1 (Truro) 01872 224383 CENTRAL 2 (St Austell) 01726 223322

EAST 1 (Bodmin) 01208 265658 EAST 2 (Liskeard) 01579 341470

WEST (Camborne) 01209 61442

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

FROM

CORNWALL AND PLYMOUTH

BUILDING CONTROL

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED CUSTOM

This 28 acre development, for which we are providing the Building Control service,

is situated on a former MOD site and will, when completed, include 469 dwellings with a mixture of apartments and 2, 3 & 4 bedroom houses.

The scheme is Georgian in concept to reflect the original buildings on the site,

including the Grade II listed Admiralty House. The photographs barely do justice

to the magnificent street scenes achieved.

The existing cricket pitch is being retained which will enhance the village atmosphere and a new pavilion being constructed to replace the old timber

building. Admiralty House is to become a 21 bedroom, boutique hotel. The main contractors for the development are Leadbitter and the project

architects are ADG.

And finally – A Village by the Sea