July 2018 | Broadsword Group

New rules on housing developments from the National Planning Policy Framework

July 25, 2018/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by James

Poor quality or unattractive housing developments will be more easily changed by councils under new rules that form part of the revised National Planning Policy Framework, the government has claimed.

Publishing the revised framework, following a public consultation earlier this year, the government said it would:

promote high quality design of new homes and places
offer stronger protection for the environment
allow the construction of the right number of homes in the right places
focus on greater responsibility and accountability for housing delivery from councils and developers.

The revision of the National Planning Policy Framework is part of the government’s ambition to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid 2020s and incorporates 85 proposals set out in the housing white paper and the Budget.

Under the revised framework, councils will have the power to refuse permission for development that does not prioritise design quality and does not complement its surroundings.

It will also encourage councils to make use of new visual tools to promote better design and quality and will set a strategic direction for driving up new build quality, although it will remain up to councils to apply these policies in the most appropriate way in their area.

There will be a greater importance on air quality, as the framework has also been updated to provide further protection for biodiversity, aligning the planning system more closely with the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) 25-year Environment Plan, which offers more protection for habitats and places greater importance on air quality when deciding development proposals.

The framework also sets out a new way for councils to calculate the housing need for their local community, with the aim of delivering more homes where they are most needed, and from November 2018 councils will have a Housing Delivery Test, focused on driving up the number of homes delivered in an area, rather than how many are planned for.

Communities secretary James Brokenshire said: “Fundamental to building the homes our country needs is ensuring that our planning system is fit for the future. To maximise the use of land we are promoting more effective use of the land available and giving councils more confidence to refuse applications that don’t provide enough homes”

“This revised planning framework sets out our vision of a planning system that delivers the homes we need. I am clear that quantity must never compromise the quality of what is built, and this is reflected in the new rules.”

The framework also sets out a new way for councils to calculate the housing need of their local community, including different forms of housing, such as older people’s retirement homes. According to Brokenshire the new methodology aims to deliver more homes in the places where they are most needed, based on factors including the affordability of existing homes for people on lower and medium incomes.

The government said councils would be required to take a Housing Delivery Test from November this year, “designed to drive up the numbers of homes actually delivered in their area, rather than how many are planned for”.

The government repeated its goal to building 300,000 new homes a year “by the mid-2020s”.

The new rules will see 85 of the proposals set out in the most recent Budget and in the housing white paper – published in February 2017 – implemented in the new framework.

Responding to the latest document the British Property Federation said the NPPF “rightly embraces multi-tenure housing delivery, higher quality design of new homes and the benefits of the build-to-rent sector, [but] the nation’s town centres and the industrial and logistics sectors still require more support from planning policy”.

BPF director of real estate policy Ian Fletcher said the planning system for town centres was still too inflexible and outdated. “The way people use town centres is changing, and in turn town centres must be able to respond more quickly and innovatively to this.

“Leadership needs to come from local authorities and the starting point is a supportive planning policy. Local authorities should be given the resource to regularly monitor retail trends and adapt town centre planning policies accordingly.”

And Mark Sitch, senior partner at design consultancy Barton Willmore, said he was disappointed to see that the industry’s “substantial feedback” had not found its way into the final framework.

“There are however no big surprises and no real changes. The focus remains on housing. Overall, there is less, not more, for those looking to deliver employment floorspace. This may be a critical oversight as we all move towards a post-Brexit economy.”

But Paul Smith, managing director of planning consultancy the Strategic Land Group, said that while none of the NPPF policies were “game changing in themselves, they represent an evolution of the original NPPF which has, in reality, worked quite well. The number of homes granted planning permission has almost doubled since it was introduced.”

Source: Construction Manager Magazine / Building.co.uk

New alliance formed to improve facade fire-testing

July 18, 2018/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by James

A new international alliance aims to improve the facade fire-testing market in the UK, by increasing both the capacity and quality of large-scale fire testing of cladding and building systems.

The US-based global safety science business UL, which has nine sites across the UK, and the UK Fire Protection Association (FPA) have announced that they will be working together after signing a cooperation agreement aimed at transforming the testing and certification of facades and building envelope products within the UK itself.

Currently, the only UK-based facilities capable of testing facades for fire resistance are booked up for at least the next six months, driving many building product manufacturers to seek testing and accreditation outside of the UK.

The UL / FPA alliance will include an investment by UL in the FPA’s existing fire test and research facilities, enhancing the capability and broadening the scope of testing available to developers, social landlords, specifiers and manufacturers.

UL plans to offer product testing and certification from within the facilities’ test lab.

Significant changes are expected to the current British Standard (BS 8414) cladding test following a detailed critique of that standard by the FPA’s testing and research team earlier this year, commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). UL will test and certify to this updated standard.

Chris Hasbrook, vice president and general manager of UL’s building and life safety technologies division, said: “UL is committed to increasing the facade fire testing capacity in the UK as well as the quality of those tests, an area of weakness highlighted by the independent review led by Dame Judith Hackitt. We will ensure we play our part in rebuilding public confidence in a robust, reliable and real-life testing regime.”

Jonathan O’Neill, managing director of the Fire Protection Association, said: “Teaming up with the world class team at UL offers FPA an unrivalled opportunity. UL’s mission and expertise perfectly complements our own, and its global presence ensures our customers gain barrier-free access to world markets.

“The Hackitt Review confirmed problems in the UK fire testing market. This new venture aims to deliver the level of quality, expertise and experience required.”

James Dalton, director of policy at the ABI added: “The ABI commissioned the FPA earlier this year to review the current cladding testing regime of BS 8414, and it was found seriously lacking in five areas. This testing regime is not fit for purpose, so we welcome this partnership to improve fire safety testing and certification. We need multiple lines of defence to ensure the safety of all buildings in the future, not just high-rise blocks.”

In addition to testing and certification of building systems to UK, EU and USA requirements, UL will be able to offer building envelope inspection services and additional forensic services for building owners concerned about cladding, insulation and other materials.

Welcoming the partnership announcement, Jonathan O’Neill, Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association, said:

“The Hackitt Review confirmed problems in the UK fire testing market. Teaming up with the world class team at UL offers FPA an unrivalled opportunity to provide a market leading solution to cladding testing. UL’s mission and expertise perfectly complements the FPA’s, and its global presence ensures customers gain barrier-free access to world markets.”

Source: Construction Manager Magazine / thefpa.co.uk

Construction buyers have reported strong rise in construction activity

July 11, 2018/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

Construction buyers have reported the strongest rise in construction activity since November 2017.

The latest IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index for June registered 53.1 in June – up from 52.5 in April.

The rise represents the sharpest increase in overall construction output since last November.

New orders also rose at their fastest pace since May 2017.

Residential and commercial work were the main drives as civil engineering continued to plod along.

Tim Moore, Associate Directorat IHSMarkit and author of the IHSMarkit/CIPS Construction PMI said: “The latest increase in UK construction output marks three months of sustained recovery from the snow-related disruption seen back in March.

“A solid contribution from house building helped to drive up overall construction activity in June, while a lack of new work to replace completed civil engineering projects continued to hold back growth.

“Of the three main categories of construction work, commercial building was sandwiched in the middle of the performance table during June.

“Survey respondents suggested that improved opportunities for industrial and distribution work were the main bright spots, which helpedto offset some of the slowdown in retail and office development.

“Stretched supply chains and stronger input buying resulted in longer delivery times for construction materials during June.

“At the same time, higher transportation costs and rising prices for steel-related inputs led to the fastest increase in cost burdens across the construction sector since September 2017.”

Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said: “With the fastest rise in new orders since May 2017, it appears the brakes are off for the construction sector.

“Despite being hampered by economic uncertainty, firms reported an improved pipeline of work as clients committed to projects and hesitancy was swept away.”

Source: Construction Enquirer

Can vegetables make concrete stronger?

July 4, 2018/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

Engineers at Lancaster University are working with industrial partners at Cellucomp Ltd UK to research how concrete mixtures can be strengthened and made more environmentally friendly by adding ‘nano platelets’ extracted from the fibres of root vegetables.

The work, which is being supported with £195,000 by the EU’s Horizon 2020 funding, will strengthen findings from early tests that have demonstrated that concrete mixtures including nano platelets from sugar beet or carrot significantly improve the mechanical properties of concrete.

These vegetable-composite concretes were also found to out-perform all commercially available cement additives, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes and at a much lower cost.

The root vegetable nano platelets work to increase the amount of calcium silicate hydrate – the main substance that controls the performance of concrete, and stop any cracks that appear in the concrete.

By increasing the performance of concrete, smaller quantities are needed in construction.

The construction industry is urgently seeking ways in which to curb its carbon emissions. The production of ordinary Portland cement, one of the main ingredients for concrete, is very carbon intensive – its production accounts for 8% of total global co2 emissions. This is forecast to double in the next 30 years due to rising demand.

The proof-of-concept studies highlighted that adding the root vegetable nano platelets resulted in a saving of 40kg of ordinary Portland cement per cubic metre of concrete – which gives a saving of 40kg of CO2 for the same volume. This is because the greater strength of the root vegetable mixture means smaller sections of concrete are required in buildings.

Professor Mohamed Saafi from Lancaster University’s Engineering Department and lead researcher believes root vegetable concrete could go a long way to reducing construction carbon emissions.

Saafi said: “These novel cement nanocomposites are made by combining ordinary Portland cement with nano platelets extracted from waste root vegetables taken from the food industry.

“The composites are not only superior to current cement products in terms of mechanical and microstructure properties, but also use smaller amounts of cement. This significantly reduces both the energy consumption and CO2 emissions associated with cement manufacturing.”

The vegetable-based cementitious composites were also found to have a denser microstructure, which is important to prevent corrosion and increasing the lifespan of the materials.

The research project is also looking at adding very thin sheets made from vegetable nano platelets to existing concrete structures to reinforce their strength.

The two-year research project will investigate the science behind the results of the proof-of-concept studies to gain a fuller understanding of how the vegetable nano platelet fibres enhance the concrete mix. The researchers will also seek to optimise the concrete performance to help produce a mixture that can be used in the construction industry.

Cellucomp Ltd already uses fibres from root vegetables to manufacture more durable paints.

Dr Eric Whale from Cellucomp Ltd said: “We are excited to be continuing our collaboration with Professor Saafi and developing new applications for our materials, where we can bring environmental and performance benefits.”

Source: PBCtoday.co.uk