Approved Inspectors ~ a private sector building control alternative as outlined on the preceding page. Approved inspectors may be suitably qualified individuals or corporate bodies employing suitably qualified people, e.g. National House Building Council (NHBC Ltd.) and MD Insurance Services Ltd.
Borough councils can contract out the building control process to approved inspectors. Validation and site examinations follow the established format shown on page 56, with approved inspectors substituting for LA.
Both NHBC and MD Insurance publish their own construction rules andstandards that supplement the Building Regulations. These form the basis for their own independent quality control procedures whereby their Inspectors will undertake stage and periodic examinations of work in progress to ensure that these standards are adhered to. The objective is to provide new home buyers with a quality assured product warranted against structural defects (10†15 years), provided the house builder has satisfied certain standards for registration. Therefore, the buyer should be provided with a completion certificate indicating Building Regulations approval and a warranty against defects.
Robust Details ~ Building Regulations A.D. E - Resistance to the passage of sound; requires that the separating walls, floors and stairs in new dwellings are sufficiently resistant to airborne and impact sound transmission. Sound measurement tests defined in the associated BSs specified in the Approved Document must be undertaken by an approved inspector/building control official before completion.
An alternative or a means for exemption of pre-completion testing is for the builder to notify the building inspector that sound insulation construction details are registered and specified to those approved by Robust Details Ltd. This is a not-for-profit company established by the house building industry to produce guidance manuals containing details of acceptable sound resistant construction practice.
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