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Standards and Regulations

Devolution of Wales and split of Building Regulations powers

Jan 3, 2013 |David Fuller

Seperation of England and Wales

Building regulation powers were devolved to Wales on 31 December 2011. The Building Regulations Advisory Committee for Wales (BRACW) will advise the Welsh Ministers on Building Regulations policy.

Wales

The Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (No. 2) Order 2009 was made on 17 November 2009 and came into force on 31 December 2011. The main function transferred to Wales under this Order is the power to make Building Regulations in relation to Wales.

The Welsh Building Regulations are currently an adoption of the existing England and Wales Secondary Legislation, the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214); these are read in conjunction with the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1515) which came into force on 15 July 2011. The guidance currently being used for this purpose are the 2010 versions of the England and Wales Approved Documents. These can be found at: Approved documents and Building Regulations publications externallink.

The Welsh Government has issued a policy statement relating to the first changes altering these Regulations. The changes are focusing on the reduction of carbon emissions, with an aim for implementation in 2013.

England

In England from 6 April 2013 the Approved Documents produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) are for use in England only. These incorporate 2013 amendments. The amendments are to Approved Documents A, B Vol 1, B Vol 2, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, and M. AD K and P have been replaced with new editions. Changes to Approved Document L1A, L1B, L2A, L2B and The Approved Document to Regulation 7, come into effect later this year. The 2013 Approved Documents and the 2013 Corrigenda can be found (on or before 6 April 2013) at: Approved documents externallink.

Following devolution the 2013 changes in England do not apply to Wales . It is also worth noting that AD N, whilst in England is now wholly subsumed into AD K and therefore withdrawn, in Wales it is currently retained as a separate document.

Note

There are a few minor exceptions to the general transfer of powers regarding Building Regulations, such as on excepted energy buildings in Wales as defined in the Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (No.2) Order 2009.

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