NEWS BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEYS LATEST FACILITY BREAKS GROUND Construction of the Discovery Building, a new operations facility for the British Antarctic Survey, started on site in January, at the Rothera Research Station. The project is being delivered by BAM, design consultants Sweco, and Hugh Broughton Architects, with Ramboll acting as technical advisers, with NORR architects and Turner & Townsend. The two-storey, 4,500m2 buildings envelope will be formed with composite insulated metal panels and triple glazing to create an airtight and thermally-efficient enclosure. Rooflights will bring natural light into the centre of the building. Frustrated Dame Judith tells industry to get on with it Scope of regulator would include all buildings assessed against a range of risk factors, said Dame Judith Dame Judith Hackitt has expressed frustration at how slowly the changes she demanded in her review of building and fire-safety regulations are being made, but said the industry should not be waiting to be told what to do and would be held accountable for its past failings. She told a conference organised by technology firm NBS that the new building regulator would not be appointed until sometime next year, but said she hoped the regime would be operating in shadow form before then. Dame Judith added that it was folly for the industry not to be taking responsibility now and putting right the sins of the past. She is chairing the transition board that will appoint the new regulator, who will be managed by the Health and Safety Executive. It follows the governments decision to accept all the 53 recommendations she made in her review. The whole supply chain would be in the firing line, said Dame Judith, because product testing, marketing, labelling and approval processes were all flawed, unreliable and behind the times. There will be serious penalties for those who fail to comply with the regulations, she added, saying it would be more than a rap on the knuckles under the new system. Dame Judith wants to see more data and performance accreditation, and the use of Dame Judith Hackitt standardised systems, plus greater collaboration across the sector. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leave the race to the bottom behind and change industry practice for good, she told the NBS conference on 13 February, confirming that the scope of the regulator would move beyond the high-rise residential sector, with all buildings assessed against a range of risk factors. The government had already broadened the scope last year, by proposing it cover buildings of more than 18m, compared with the 30m originally proposed. It is about the number and the vulnerability of the people who are exposed to risk that is what this is all about, said Dame Judith. Generational change because of Hackitt Review The building services sector is facing a period of unprecedented change as a result of the governments decision to accept all the recommendations in the Hackitt Review, according to CIBSE technical director Hywel Davies. In his annual policy report to the CIBSE Patrons, Davies said the industry was facing oncein-a-generation possibly two generations upheaval, as it is forced to adapt to fresh legislation and a completely new competence framework. According to Davies, there will be the most far-reaching reform of fire-safety legislation in half a century and a total resetting of building safety regulation. Membership of professional bodies alone will not be enough to satisfy the new competence rules being drawn up, he added. We have 27 million buildings in this country that will still be with us in 2050 and we will need to refurbish them all to meet new energy efficiency standards, he told the Patrons meeting at the RAF Club in London. 2050 is only 9,000 days away so thats 3,000 buildings a day. Patrons chair Nick Mead said this was a huge wake-up call for the industry, which would have to stop building and designing, but ensure all projects were properly planned, costed and designed before starting work on site. www.cibsejournal.com March 2020 9 CIBSE Mar20 pp09 News.indd 9 21/02/2020 14:38