Introduction

In April 2007 the Code for Sustainable Homes replaced Ecohomes for the assessment of new housing in England. The Code is an environmental assessment method for new homes based upon BRE’s Ecohomes and contains mandatory performance levels in 7 key areas. 

The Code aims to protect the environment by providing guidance on the construction of high performance homes built with sustainability in mind.

BRE and CLG have worked closely together to ensure that the Code meets the latest regulatory requirements and addresses issues that emerged from an earlier industry wide consultation

The Scope of the Code

Many house builders who currently use Ecohomes will find the credit system of the Code familiar. Users will notice that there are new mandatory minimum levels of performance that have been introduced across 7 key issues:

• Energy efficiency /CO2
• Water efficiency
• Surface water management
• Site Waste Management
• Household Waste Management
• Use of Materials
• Lifetime homes (applies to Code Level 6 only)

Our Service

LK Accreditations qualified Code for Sustainable Homes assessors will work alongside you and help with every stage of the project. It is important to involve us from the planning stage. We offer an initial consultation at which point we will pre-assess the project and in consultation with you, develop a plan of action to ensure compliance with all the regulations and achieve the level applied for. Once we are sure the project will achieve the level required we will register the site with the BRE and advise them as to the level the site is aiming to meet.

We then produce a Design Stage assessment for lodging with the BRE and will monitor the progress during the course of the project. When the site is completed we will check the design schedule against the completed works and if all criteria have been met we will lodge the findings with the BRE for final certification. In our experience more and more local authority building control services are requesting a minimum of Code level 3, with our input, we believe we can a assist you in achieving this in a cost effective way.

Why Choose LK Accreditation

We are in the unique position of having an online visual aid to your application www.code4homes.com offers a graphical overview of the process and advises on areas where information has been approved and where further information is required, it will also monitor the progress of your application against different levels, so if you apply for Level 3 and your project is very close to level 4 you can see at a glance the areas you may need to do a little extra work on to move up to the next level. This will also allow you to assess the costs involved and decide whether or not you want to push for the extra credits.

 

Resources:

Case Studies

Capability Statement

LK Group Brochure

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