Two thousand years ago, King Herod stated ‘should a man construct a building which falls down and kills another, then this man should be slain’.
Today, we call it the Building Regulations. Although our enlightened government does not put you to death for not complying, the regulations themselves are becoming more and more stringent and less related to normal life.
I will give just one example.
To comply with the law, it is easiest to follow the 'approved documents' which set out, in what is supposed to be a simple and practical manner, ways to satisfy the demands. In 1985 the approved document was a slim volume. Now of course, owing to the need to give various spotty nits who form government quangos something to do, it is a labyrinthine, ponderous and impractical document split into parts A - P, some of these thicker than the original 1985 volume.
Part L is the killer. It is 'Conservation of Fuel and Power' which you would think is simple enough, bung lots of insulation in the roof, double glaze the windows....er, no. One, just one of the requirements is limiting air leakage - this means making sure that your new house can be pumped full of air without the pressure dropping. During the test, certain holes can be bunged up, such as key holes. Then someone moves in. They have a cat, so what is the ultimate in cat freedom? A cat flap. Then maybe a new letterbox as the door furniture the house comes with is not to their taste. Then an extra lock - you can't be too careful, you know. All these create extra holes, all nicely expelling that hot air paid for in fossil fuels and environmental disaster.
It doesn't take a genius to work out that the air test is a complete waste of time. Genius, however, is what the government quangos ain't got.
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About Me
- Alice
- I am a registered architect and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, which also stands for Remember I'm the Bloody Architect. I practice somewhere out in the sticks, living off the bottom of the architectural pond, on tiny loo extensions with the occasional biggy if I'm lucky. Architects in general aren't a respected profession, like a doctor or a vet, even though the training is seven years or more. I think its because a lot of them are either so arrogant they can't be bothered to explain, or they are self effacing to the extent of being invisible. There are a lot of DIY idiots out there who call themselves 'architects' but they're not, and give us solid gold, true to the core architects a bad name. That's enough about me.
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2 comments:
That wasn't Herod, but actually Hammurabi, of Babylon about 4 thousand years ago, so if you figure that bureaucracy was still around and add at least a page a year... I just thank God we have a younger bureaucracy! And don't have to try to figure out cuneiform to boot!
Ben
Letting cold air in is of course a massive waste of energy.
The postman must be taught to warm the letters under the heater in his van, so they don't make a cold patch on the floor, and he must train post all letters within 0.2 of a second.
Door-to-door salesmen will be banned, as answering the door lets heat out. (well at least that's a good thing).
Children will only be allowed out to play on sunny days, again to minimise heat loss.
Of course, if the house is made air-tight, the occupants will eventually suffocate.
So that extra lock (as long as it's a traditional 5 lever mortise) provides much-needed ventilation.
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