DRAFT Approved Document R: Volume 1

Question 1

DRAFT Approved Document R: Volume 1 - Physical infrastructure and network connection for new dwellings

Accepted Answer

This draft guidance accompanies the technical consultation “New build developments: delivering gigabit-capable connections”

Question 2

Main changes made by the amendments

Accepted Answer

The changes focus on new requirements within Part R of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010, ensuring new build homes have gigabit-capable connections through the installation of:

a. gigabit-ready physical infrastructure necessary for gigabit-capable connections (consisting of infrastructure including ducts, chambers and termination points) up to an off-site network distribution point where reasonably practicable; and

b. subject to a £2,000 cost cap per dwelling, a gigabit-capable connection (composed of equipment such as an optical fibre cable or other technological means of facilitating such a connection).

Question 3

The approved documents

Accepted Answer

What is an approved document?

The Secretary of State has approved a series of documents that give practical guidance about how to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations 2010 for England. Approved documents give guidance on each of the technical parts of the regulations and on regulation 7 (see the end of this document).

Approved documents set out what, in ordinary circumstances, may be accepted as reasonable provision for compliance with the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations to which they refer. If you follow the guidance in an approved document, there will be a presumption of compliance with the requirements covered by the guidance. However, compliance is not guaranteed; for example, ‘normal’ guidance may not apply if the particular case is unusual in some way.

Note that there may be other ways to comply with the requirements – there is no obligation to adopt any particular solution contained in an approved document. If you prefer to meet a relevant requirement in some other way than described in an approved document, you should discuss this with the relevant building control body.

In addition to guidance, some approved documents include provisions that must be followed exactly, as required by regulations or where methods of test or calculation have been prescribed by the Secretary of State. This approved document relates only to the particular requirements of the Building Regulations that the document addresses. However, building work must also comply with any other applicable requirements of the Building Regulations.

How to use this approved document

This document uses the following conventions.

a. Text against a grey background (or possibly in an outlined box if viewed in print) is an extract from the Building Regulations 2010 or the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2010 (both as amended). These extracts set out the legal requirements of the regulations.

b. Key terms are defined in Appendix A.

c. References are made to appropriate standards or other documents, which can provide further useful guidance. When this approved document refers to a named standard or other reference document, the standard or reference document has been clearly identified in this document. Standards are highlighted in bold throughout. The full name and version of the document referred to is listed in Appendix B. However, if the issuing body has revised or updated the listed version of the standard or document, you may use the new version as guidance if it continues to address the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations.

d. Standards and technical approvals also address aspects of performance or matters that are not covered by the Building Regulations and may recommend higher standards than required by the Building Regulations. Nothing in this approved document precludes you from adopting higher standards.

User requirements

The approved documents provide technical guidance. Users of the approved documents should have adequate knowledge and skills to understand and apply the guidance correctly to the building work being undertaken.

Where you can get further help

If you are not confident that you possess adequate knowledge and skills to apply the guidance correctly or if you do not understand the technical guidance or other information in this approved document or the additional detailed technical references to which it directs you, you should seek further help. Help can be obtained through a number of routes, some of which are listed below.

a. The government website: www.gov.uk

b. If you are the person undertaking the building work: either from your local authority building control service or from an approved inspector.

c. If you are registered with a competent person scheme: from the scheme operator.

d. If your query is technical: from a specialist or an industry technical body for the relevant subject.

Question 4

The Building Regulations

Accepted Answer

The Manual to the Building Regulations gives an overview of the building regulatory system in England. You can access the most recent version of the manual on GOV.UK.

The following is a high level summary of the Building Regulations 2010 relevant to most types of building work. Where there is any doubt you should consult the full text of the regulations, available at www.legislation.gov.uk.

Building work

Regulation 3 of the Building Regulations defines ‘building work’. Building work includes:

a. the erection or extension of a building

b. the provision or extension of a controlled service or fitting

c. the material alteration of a building or a controlled service or fitting

Regulation 4 states that building work should be carried out in such a way that, when work is complete:

a. For new buildings or work on a building that complied with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations: the building complies with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations.

b. For work on an existing building that did not comply with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations:

i. the work itself must comply with the applicable requirements of the Building Regulations, and

ii. the building must be no more unsatisfactory in relation to the requirements than before the work was carried out.

Material change of use

Regulation 5 defines a ‘material change of use’ in which a building or part of a building that was previously used for one purpose will be used for another.

Regulation 6 sets out the particular requirements of Schedule 1 that must be met before a building can be used for a new purpose. To meet the requirements, the building may need to be upgraded in some way.

Materials and workmanship

In accordance with regulation 7, building work must be carried out in a workmanlike manner using adequate and proper materials. Guidance on regulation 7(1) is given in Approved Document 7 and guidance on regulation 7(2) is provided in Approved Document B.

Independent third party certification and accreditation

Independent schemes of certification and accreditation of installers can provide confidence that the required level of performance for a system, product, component or structure can be achieved. Building control bodies may accept certification under such schemes as evidence of compliance with a relevant standard. However, a building control body should establish before the start of the building work that a scheme is adequate for the purposes of the Building Regulations.

Energy efficiency requirements

Part 6 of the Building Regulations imposes additional specific requirements for energy efficiency. If a building is extended or renovated, the energy efficiency of the existing building or part of it may need to be upgraded.

Notification of work

Most building work and material changes of use must be notified to a building control body unless one of the following applies.

a. It is work that will be self-certified by a registered competent person or certified by a registered third party.

b. It is work exempted from the need to notify by regulation 12(6A) of, or Schedule 4 to, the Building Regulations.

Responsibility for compliance

People who are responsible for building work (e.g. agent, designer, builder or installer) must ensure that the work complies with all applicable requirements of the Building Regulations. The building owner may also be responsible for ensuring that work complies with the Building Regulations. If building work does not comply with the Building Regulations, the building owner may be served with an enforcement notice.

Question 5

Approved Document R: Infrastructure for electronic communications

Accepted Answer

This Approved Document, Approved Document R Volume 1, provides guidance on how to comply with the requirement to install gigabit-ready physical infrastructure and a connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network when new homes are constructed or created through a change of use.

This Approved Document provides guidance on when the requirement for a connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network to new homes may be modified or excluded.

The Approved Document also provides guidance on the particulars of any public electronic communications network (‘connectivity plan’) to be submitted with building regulations applications. The particulars include information demonstrating the proposed methods of complying with the requirement to install gigabit-ready physical infrastructure and a connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network.

A separate Approved Document, Approved Document R Volume 2, provides guidance on the requirements for physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communication networks when new buildings other than dwellings are constructed or when existing buildings are subject to major renovation.

Question 6

Requirement RA1: Gigabit-ready physical infrastructure

Accepted Answer

Part R Infrastructure for electronic communications

Requirement

RA1 Gigabit-ready physical infrastructure

(1) Building work must be carried out so as to ensure that each dwelling is equipped with gigabit-ready physical infrastructure that extends from a network termination point for gigabit-capable public electronic communications networks and reaches—

(a) a distribution point for a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network, or

(b) where the person carrying out the building work (“the developer”) has no right to install gigabit-ready physical infrastructure in land in which it would have to be installed if it were to reach a distribution point for a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network, as close as is reasonably practicable to a distribution point for a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network, or

(c) where the developer has no right to install such infrastructure in land beyond the building, an access point for gigabit-capable public electronic communications network.

(2) Where the work concerns a building containing more than one dwelling, the work must be carried out so as to ensure that the building is equipped in addition with a common access point for gigabit-capable public electronic communications networks.

Limits on application

Requirements RA1 and RA2 apply only to—

(a) the erection of a dwelling or of a building that contains one or more dwellings, or

(b) the formation of a dwelling by a material change of use falling within regulation 5(a), (b) or (g).”.

Application

1.1 The requirement for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure applies:

a. to the erection of a new dwelling and

b. when a new dwelling is created through a material change of use

A new dwelling can be a dwelling-house or a flat in a building containing one or more dwellings.

1.2 The erection of new dwellings includes new housing developments, self-built new, units and new dwellings in mixed use developments (including live/work units e.g. a flat (dwelling) that is a workplace for people who live there, its occupants, and for people who do not live on premises).

1.3 New dwellings created through a material change of use include conversions of non-residential buildings into use as a dwelling(s) and/or a flat(s) and conversions of buildings so there is a greater or lesser number of dwellings (under Regulation 5(a), (b) and (g) of the Building Regulations 2010).

1.4 A common access point for a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network is additionally required where the erection, or material change of use (under regulation 5(a), (b) or (g)), is of a building containing more than one dwelling.

1.5 The requirement for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure does not apply to rooms for residential purposes in hostels, hotels, boarding houses, schools and other educational establishments, hospitals and other similar establishments used for patient accommodation.

1.6 The requirement for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure does not apply to wholly non-residential buildings or to existing buildings undergoing major renovation. But requirement R1 in Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2010 will apply to these buildings, for guidance in these cases see Approved Document R Volume 2: Physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks.

1.7 Requirement RA1 does not apply to the following types of building or building work:

a. buildings and work described in Schedule 2 (exempt buildings and work) to the Building Regulations 2010 which in England includes buildings included in the schedule of monuments maintained under section 1 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

– other examples include sheds, domestic greenhouses, garages, conservatories and other small detached buildings with no sleeping accommodation

b. buildings for which compliance with Requirement RA1 would unacceptably alter their character or appearance and that are listed in accordance with section 1 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

c. buildings occupied by the Ministry of Defence or the armed forces of the Crown, or otherwise occupied for purposes connected to national security.

d. buildings in isolated areas where a connection to a high-speed public electronic communication network and a connection to an electronic communications network capable of delivering a broadband connection download speed, as defined in the Broadband Universal Service Obligation 2018 would exceed the cost cap, and the prospect of a connection to any public electronic communications network is considered too remote to justify equipping the building with gigabit-ready physical infrastructure or an access point.

Performance

1.8 In the Secretary of State’s view, the requirement for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure will be met by the installation of physical infrastructure, including elements under joint ownership, intended to host wired or wireless access networks, where such access networks are capable of delivering gigabit-capable public electronic communications services and connecting the building access point with a network termination point at each individual dwelling, and capable of connecting the network termination point with the physical point at which the network operator’s spine or core network ends (network distribution point).

Note: The network distribution point could take the form of cabinets, or boxes mounted on walls or telephone poles, or any other appropriate means for the purpose of enabling gigabit-capable broadband.

1.9 The requirement to install gigabit-ready physical infrastructure will extend from the network termination point at each individual dwelling to the following points, listed in order of priority:

a. distribution point on the network operator’s gigabit-capable public electronic communications network (which could be off-site), or

b. where the person carrying out the building work has no right to install the infrastructure in land in which it would need to be installed in order to reach the network distribution point, a point as close as is reasonably practicable to a network distribution point which the owner of the building is entitled to install gigabit-ready infrastructure, or

c. where this is not reasonably practicable because the developer has no right to install such infrastructure in land beyond the building, a network termination point’s corresponding access point or common access point.

Diagram 1: RA1 requirement, first priority - schematic example of gigabit-ready physical infrastructure extending from the network termination point to the network distribution point.

[Alt text: An image of a diagram showing a dwelling or multi-dwelling unit connected - by underground ducting - from its access point or common access to a network distribution point, at which point a gigabit-capable spine network is met. The diagram visually represents the requirement set out in paragraph 1.9 a. of this volume]

Please note that a) all diagrams are simplified. Developers should refer to specific guidance and requirements when planning gigabit-ready infrastructure with network operators; and b) these diagrams reflect full fibre infrastructure; where fixed wireless access or satellite technology is deployed, infrastructure will be installed differently. Diagrams 4 and 5 provide more detail on in-building gigabit-ready physical infrastructure.

Diagram 2: RA1 requirement, second priority - schematic example of gigabit-ready physical infrastructure extending from network termination point to point as close as is reasonably practicable to network distribution point where there is no right to install in land to reach the network distribution point.

[Alt text: An image of a diagram showing how an area of third party land can prevent a direct connection to a network distribution point. In this image a dwelling or multi-dwelling unit is connected - by underground ducting - from its access point or common access to a point as close as possible to a network distribution point, at which point a gigabit-capable spine network would be met. There is an area of land, to which the access rights are not held, between the ducting’s end and the network distribution point. The diagram visually represents the requirement set out in paragraph 1.9 b. of this volume.]

Diagram 3(a): RA1 requirement, third priority - schematic example of gigabit-ready physical infrastructure that extends from the network termination point to the access point in an individual dwelling.

[Alt text: An image of a diagram showing an individual dwelling which is fitted with an interior network termination point and corresponding access point. In this case there is no ducting or network distribution point depicted, as in this instance there would not be a requirement to install ducting towards a network distribution point. The diagram visually represents the requirement set out in paragraph 1.9 c. of this volume]

Diagram 3(b): RA1 requirement, third priority - schematic example of gigabit-ready physical infrastructure that extends from dwelling network termination points to the common access point in a multi-dwelling unit.

[Alt text: An image of a diagram showing a multi-dwelling unit - a block of flats - which is fitted with a network termination point for each individual dwelling. These network termination points are connected to a common access point through in-building ducting. In this case there is no ducting or network distribution point depicted, as in this instance there would not be a requirement to install ducting towards a network distribution point. The diagram visually represents the requirement set out in paragraph 1.9 c. of this volume]

1.10 Additionally, where the building contains more than one dwelling, the building must be equipped with a common access point.

1.11 To aid installation of gigabit-ready physical infrastructure to a distribution point on the network operator’s gigabit-capable public electronic communications network, developers will need to work closely with network operators from the earliest possible moment. This should assist developers in installing infrastructure that meets an existing network distribution point or planned or future distribution point that would enable an appropriate connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network. Where there is a choice of distribution points in a location, developers and network operators should cooperate on the location of infrastructure and which network distribution point would be appropriate. Again, this cooperation should take place from the earliest possible moment.

1.12 Working closely with network operators will also be required where the infrastructure is installed to a point as close as is reasonably practicable to a network distribution point. A developer will need to consider the best means of installing infrastructure based on the location and any encumbrance or obstacles that would hinder a connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network, and install the infrastructure in a reasonable and practical location to assist a network operator and facilitate a connection.

1.13 The requirement to install gigabit-ready physical infrastructure, including a common access point where applicable, applies in the event of a modification of or exclusion from Requirement RA2 for the connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network (See 2.13).

Note: This is to ensure that when no connection to a public electronic communications network can be secured within the cost cap, new homes will still be built with the right physical infrastructure to support a gigabit capable connection in the future.

1.14 The gigabit-ready physical infrastructure should have adequate capacity and dimensions to allow for the proper installation and hosting of at least one gigabit-capable public electronic communications network connection to each dwelling on a development.

1.15 A way of meeting the requirement for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure external to the building would be to design and install a system of ducts, chambers, cabinets, towers and poles which is adequate to accommodate a connection for all the dwellings serviced by that infrastructure.

Note: the physical infrastructure to be provided under RA1 does not include the equipment such as an optical fibre cable or other technological means of facilitating a connection. This equipment will need to be provided under the separate requirement to provide a connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network (RA2).

1.16 Ducts and chambers should be installed in accordance with Streetworks UK Guidelines on the Positioning and Colour Coding of Underground Utilities’ Apparatus, Volume 1, Issue 9:2018.

1.17 The design and installation of gigabit-ready physical infrastructure may use satellite or wireless technologies where it can be demonstrated that the requirement for connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network can be met through these technologies. The aim is to provide the best possible future-proofed gigabit-capable connections to new dwellings. In most cases this is likely to be met by full fibre, but other technologies may be used where it can be demonstrated that they meet the performance requirements.

1.18 Where an access point is installed at a dwelling to facilitate entry for connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network provision should be made at the access point to prevent the ingress of moisture into the building and air leakage from the building.

1.19 Diagram 4 provides an example arrangement for the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure for an individual dwelling. The access point is shown on an outside wall and is connected by a through-wall duct to the network termination point.

Diagram 4: Schematic example of the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure for an individual dwelling.

[Alt text: An image of a diagram showing an individual dwelling which is fitted with an internal network termination point and corresponding access point on the side of the building. The access point is met by a line representing ducting, which enters the ground and which would lead to, or as close to as reasonably possible, a network distribution point. As noted on the image, in some cases there will be no ducting attached to the access point. The diagram visually represents the requirements set out in paragraph 1.19 of this volume.]

1.20 For a building containing more than one dwelling such as a block of flats, a common access point and gigabit-ready physical infrastructure inside the building will be required.

1.21 A way of meeting the requirement for gigabit-ready physical infrastructure inside a building containing more than one dwelling would be to design and install a system of risers, floor boxes, cable trays and ducts from the common access point to each dwelling in the building.

1.22 The gigabit-ready physical infrastructure inside the building should have adequate capacity and dimensions to allow for the proper installation and hosting of at least one gigabit-capable public electronic communications network connection to each dwelling in the building.

1.23 The gigabit-ready physical infrastructure inside a building should comply with all relevant requirements of Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2010. Particular attention should be paid to the requirements of Part B of the Building Regulations 2010 (Fire Safety) including the provision for fire stopping at penetrations through compartment walls, floors and ceilings and the ban on combustible materials in the external walls of high-rise residential buildings (regulation 7 of the Building Regulations 2010).

1.24 Diagram 5 provides an example arrangement for the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure inside a building containing more than one dwelling.

Diagram 5: Schematic example of the gigabit-ready physical infrastructure for a block of flats (a multi-dwelling unit).

[Alt text: An image of a diagram showing a multi-dwelling unit - a block of flats - in which each individual dwelling is fitted with a network termination point. These network termination points are connected through internal ducting in a common building area to a common access point on the ground floor. The common access point is met by a line representing ducting, which enters the ground and which would lead to, or as close to as reasonably possible, a network distribution point. As noted on the image, in some cases there will be no ducting attached to the access point. The diagram visually represents the requirements set out in paragraphs 1.20, 1.21, and 1.24 of this volume.]

Question 7

Requirement RA2: Gigabit-capable public electronic communications network

Accepted Answer