Home Building laws

The laws relating to home building in the UK are normally governed by government bodies or agencies such as the Building Regulations and Planning Control being the two major ones.

Other factors are also usually relevant within the term 'home building laws' such as compliance issues and targets for things like energy use, air leakage, sustainability etc.

The Building Regulations set standards for design and construction which apply to most new buildings and many alterations to existing buildings in England. Their role is to:

• set objective and fair building standards
• publish statutory guidance on ways to meet Building Regulations
• oversee and improve the functioning of the building control system and the statutory appeals system, and
• support the building control service and others who use the system in their efforts to ensure compliance.

The Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) is the national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes. The Code aims to reduce our carbon emissions and create homes that are more sustainable. It applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is entirely voluntary, and is intended to help promote higher standards of sustainable design above current Building Regulations minima.

The Code measures the sustainability of new homes against nine categories of sustainable design, rating the 'whole home' as a complete package. It covers energy/CO 2 , water, materials, surface water runoff (flooding and flood prevention), waste, pollution, health and well-being, management and ecology. 

NOTE - These are general discussion articles only.