I have discovered that many in the building profession have been too busy to study the Code of Sustainable Homes, but to my horror I find that it is being considered as a legal obligation.

I think this would be disastrous for the industry and urge you to alert everyone to the implications of this David Brent-speak.

Two documents were published recently by the communities department, entitled Code for Sustainable Homes: Technical Guide and The Future for the Code for Sustainable Homes: Making a Rating Mandatory. These documents threaten to add a layer of bureaucracy to the Building Regulation that will undermine good practice and add an unnecessary burden to compliance with the law.

The intent of these documents is clear and laudable as guidance, but they lack do not define standards of performance clearly and call for layers of control and management that would be better embodied in the Building Regulations themselves.

I urge all those concerned with the building industry to read both and make their views known before this layer of verbose rhetoric comes to rule their lives – and undermine their practices.

Keith Lodge, chairman, Ecozest

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