NEWS All the latest news from around the building industry
MPs call for late payment penalties
A group of MPs has called for legislation to reform the payment record of construction companies. The cross-party group, chaired
by Labour MP and fair payment campaigner Debbie Abrahams, demanded a code of conduct to protect small and medium-sized firms and reform the current system of payment retentions. Calling for ‘urgent action’, the
Engineers tackle overheating
l CIBSE guides designed to deal with warmer summers caused by climate change
A new CIBSE technical guide is calling for building service engineers to take a more comprehensive approach towards preventing overheating in commercial buildings (see page 22). TM52 The Limits of Thermal Comfort: Avoiding Overheating in European Buildings, aims to provide detailed instructions on how to lower the risk of overheating during hot weather using dynamic modelling and integrated systems management. Lead author Fergus Nicol said: ‘There are a lot of different ways to respond to overheating, but we must try to consider every factor and account for changes in weather patterns.
‘What it requires is a really holistic attitude. We cannot just deal with one issue at a time.’ The TM52 guide outlines the findings of the CIBSE
Overheating Task Force, which was created in response to concerns that buildings heavily insulated to save energy costs during the winter posed potential health risks at warmer times of the year. This coincided with reports that domestic properties could suffer from severe overheating and poor air quality if they had been insulated as part of the Green Deal. TM52 will be followed by another technical memorandum, TM49 Probabilistic Design Summer Years for London, which will provide more detailed and up-to- date weather data for London. Due to be published in the next month, TM49 analyses the variations in climate across London, based on the ‘urban heat island’, and makes recommendations for building designs. Dr Anastasia Mylona, environmental data co-ordinator for CIBSE, said: ‘As the climate heats up, there will be many more extreme instances of overheating. It should be treated as a health and safety issue.’
www.cibseknowledgeportal.co.uk
Barker sets domestic RHI tariffs
Four years after the scheme was announced, Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker has announced the tariffs that will be payable under the domestic version of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
The scheme is due to start in April, next year, with payments to householders set at: 7.3p/kWh for air source heat pumps; 12.2p/ kWh for biomass boilers; 18.8p/
kWh for ground source heat pumps and 19.2 p/kWh for solar thermal water-heating systems. Industry observers said the RHI could result in paybacks on heat pump installations of about five years and welcomed the higher-than-expected payments for solar thermal.
Anyone who has installed a renewable heat technology since 15 July 2009 will be eligible.
Payments will be made on a quarterly basis for seven years. In most cases, they will be based on estimated heat demand of the property. ‘After years of frustrating delays, the government has finally stepped forward and shown its commitment to renewable heat,’ said Chris Davis, chairman of the BEAMA Domestic Heat Pump Association.
MPs described the construction industry as among the worst offenders for late payment and said that small companies were regularly ‘bullied’ into accepting poor payment terms. Fair payment should be
enshrined in public sector contracts, according to the group, with tier one contractors required to be paid within 14 days; tier two firms within 19 days and tier three contractors within 23 days. Main contractors who fail to adhere to these schedules should be excluded from tenders, with payment history made part of the pre-qualification process. Retention money should be
held in trust to avoid unfair future payment delays, the inquiry concluded. The proposed code of conduct would be regulated by an independent ombudsman with the power to settle disputes.
CIBSE Journal readership survey now online
The CIBSE Journal 2013 readership survey is now online. We are interested in hearing your views on the content of the magazine and understanding more about your readership habits. The survey takes about five minutes to complete and will help shape the future of the Journal. Completing the questionnaire is
quick and simple and all readers will be sent an email with the link to the survey, or it can be accessed now at
www.cibsejournal.com Results will be published in a
forthcoming issue – keep your eyes peeled.
www.cibsejournal.com August 2013 CIBSE Journal 7
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