Apr 25 2006
Manufacturers of innovative systems, elements and components for constructing residential buildings can now sign up to a new certification standard - LPS 2020. The arrival of LPS 2020 should spur the growth of a market previously hampered by the lack of a widely recognised formal certification standard.
'The new standard will increase the confidence of insurers, mortgage lenders and regulators in innovative systems,' says Peter Bonfield of BRE. 'It will help the UK house building industry to adopt innovative systems, and so contribute towards accelerated delivery in the UK's house building sector.'
The LPS 2020 standard has been developed by BRE Certification, with support from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), to enable the assessment of innovative systems that have yet to gain a performance track record in the UK.
The standard covers all innovative systems regardless of type, material or form of construction As well as meeting the performance criteria of the Building Regulations, the standard addresses additional performance characteristics including durability, resilience, ease of repair and some aspects of whole life performance and adaptability.
There is a growing demand for innovative building systems. The Housing Corporation and ODPM spend £1.1 billion a year on building affordable housing using modern methods of construction (according to Housing Corporation statistics), including £0.5 billion using off-site manufacturing approaches. Yet growth in the market has been hampered by the fact that many innovative systems are unproven, simply because they have not been used over any substantial length of time.
'The main concern for lenders on properties built using innovative construction is that we often don't know how they will perform over the full potential life of a mortgage and beyond,' says David Hylton of Nationwide Building Society. 'We need to know that they will retain their value and marketability in a similar way to conventional structures, without abnormal expenditure on maintenance and repair. This is in the interests of owners as well as lenders and LPS 2020 is a significant step forward in providing this reassurance.'
According to Allister Smith of Norwich Union Insurance, 'the insurance industry needs to understand how innovative building systems will perform against the full range of insurable risks. Many systems do not have a track record in the UK and thus can be difficult for insurers to assess. The risk profile of a property is critical, particularly in terms of resilience to hazards and cost of actual repairs following damage through out the life time of a building system. The risks can be significant, particularly if the innovative systems are to be volume manufactured and used in constructing large numbers of residential buildings.
Manufacturers of innovative systems stand to benefit from LPS 2020, both in terms of existing products and those which they would like to bring to market. Currently, due to the varying needs of different approval, regulatory and warranty providers, manufacturers often have to go through several expensive and time consuming testing and assessment procedures. The LPS 2020 standard will provide manufacturers with a one-stop certification route and should help meet the requirements of insurers, lenders and regulators.
LPS 2020 has been piloted with the assistance of Spaceover Group - using their volumetric modular system which comprises pre-fabricated light gauge cold rolled steel frame components, and dry-lining and insulation materials. The modules come complete with internal fixtures and fittings, and installed onto pre-formed foundations by Spaceover approved installers.
'We are delighted to be one of the first companies to be calibrated to the LPS 2020 standard,' says Tony Fox of Spaceover. 'But equally important for companies such as Spaceover are the innovative building systems in the pipeline. The introduction of LPS 2020 will make it much easier to bring them to market and to grow the market, which in turn will lead to increased confidence. It's a virtuous cycle.'
The standard will give manufacturers a competitive edge. It will also give those manufacturers about to make major investments in factory and plant, added confidence that their innovative systems will be accepted in the market place.
Having completed the LPS 2020 standard, BRE Certification is now in a position to start the next phase of the LPS 2020 scheme. This will systematically review the on-site checklist, on-site quality control and inspection procedures to ensure the overall effectiveness of the on-site approval process. It will look to optimise the interface with inspectors from building control and warranty providers, to address the on-site quality and construction issues for innovative systems. Other standards are being developed to cover enhanced property and environmental protection.