Consultation With Small Business

50. The Small Business Service has been formally consulted. The majority of the small businesses likely to be affected by the amendments are considered to be those offering a Building Control Service from the private sector, i.e. Approved Inspectors. An estimate of that impact has been made and is set out in paragraph 44 above.
51. The impact on other small businesses has been more difficult to assess. Following the public consultation exercise a number of small firms who manufacture construction products have been interviewed in an attempt to determine the impact of the proposed amendment. These are summarised in Annex C, but in the main are not costs attributable to the amendment of Approved Document B.
52. For example, the companies have identified substantial testing costs which they could incur once the transition period is over. Some have also identified re-engineering costs which they would incur should they wish to pursue CE marking. They are not required to do this as CE marking is not mandatory in the UK, but some feel that they would have to take this action because of commercial pressures. Other associated costs have been identified including material and haulage costs.
53. The costs which are attributable to the amendment of Approved Document B are for familiarisation with the new. These costs are separated in paragraph 42-44 above.
54. It may be that not all small businesses in the construction industry need to purchase a copy of, or become familiar with, the amendments of Approved Document B. To enable them to form an opinion of the relevance of the amendments to their business, it is proposed to issue a detailed press notice, in addition to a full copy of the amendments being freely available from the ODPM website.

Summary and recommendations

55. Option 1 imposes no costs, but provides no benefits. Indeed, it would possibly breach European treaty obligations and could leave the UK open to infraction proceedings from the EU.
56. Option 2 is to make the proposed amendments to Approved Document B. This effectively means the Document is recognising legislation that removes a barrier to trade, and it is another way of demonstrating compliance. There is a non-recurring cost associated with the amendments of Approved Document B and that is the training and familiarisation cost for builders, developers, specifiers etc. as well as Building Control Bodies. This is estimated to be about £3.5 million.
57. For those manufacturers wishing to apply the CE marking to their products it will cost them initially to test their products to the new European harmonised system. For some of those manufacturers who go down this route there will also be further financial impacts as they may choose to re-design and re-engineer some of their products to suit the new European classification system. This though will be a commercial decision for a company to make. However, there will be considerable potential benefits to manufacturers who will be able to export their goods more easily within the EEA and they will also be able to have their products tested at any appropriate laboratory in the Community.
58. The recommended course of action is to adopt Option 2 for the reasons outlined above.

Enforcement and sanctions

59. Building work that is subject to the provisions of Part B, or of any other Part of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2000, must be notified to the local authority. The work is subject to inspection by the local authority's building control department, or, at the election of the person carrying out the work, by a private sector approved inspector.
60. Failure to comply with the requirements of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2000 is a criminal offence. Local authorities also have powers to require the removal or alteration of work that does not comply with the requirements of Schedule 1. The local authority's enforcement powers do not apply in a case where building control is being carried out by an approved inspector. However, if a person carrying out building work fails to comply with instructions from an approved inspector to rectify non-compliant work, the approved inspector must cancel the 'initial notice' which brought the project under his supervision. Enforcement power then reverts to the local authority.

Contact point

61. Enquiries and comments regarding this section of the Regulatory Impact Assessment should be addressed to Darren Hobbs at:

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Building Regulations Division
18/A Portland House
Stag Place
London
SW1E 5LP

Fax: 020 7944 5739
e-mail: firesafe.br@odpm.gov.uk

ODPM, Building Regulations Division

05/11/2002

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