The Bathroom Manufacturers Association (BMA) is calling for household water efficiency measures to be included in the upcoming Government spending plans.

In a pre-budget submission, the association has identified a number of ways public spending can be used to help drive down domestic water use and protect this natural resource.

Water scarcity is a crucial issue for the UK, as climate change and population growth are predicted to create a structural deficit in water resources by 2050. Government has launched a National Framework for Water Resources – a strategy which outlines a goal to reduce our average water use from 143 to 110 litres per day. But this will require action in every home in the country, as well as behavioural change.

BMA is calling on public policy makers to incentivise water saving on a national scale and reverse the upward trend in water usage.

Baths and showers are accountable for the highest water consumption in the home, at around 34%, with a further 30% of total water used to flush toilets. About 20% of a typical gas heated home’s use is warming water for showers, baths and taps. These figures mean any drive to improve the nation’s green credentials must include turning our attention to our bathrooms.

We are lobbying Government to consider prioritising water efficiency retrofit measures as part of a wider package of domestic retrofitting over the next two decades.

Recent research carried out by the BMA showed consumers are aware of the need to save water, and around half of those surveyed want to improve their household water efficiency. But worryingly, four in ten adults are not sure how to decrease their water usage. 

A Government commitment to systematically roll out change would signal the importance of protecting our water infrastructure and address the legacy issues in the UK’s existing housing stock.

Retrofit is an activity with multiple benefits for Government, society and the environment, creating jobs and boosting the economy in the wake of the pandemic.

To achieve the Government’s zero carbon target by 2050, a national programme is needed, with a central Retrofit Delivery Agency. We must ensure these programmes include water-saving measures to address the ever-increasing pressure on supply.

The Architect@Work talks programme has returned for 2021 as a digital summit. Over the past decade, this European trade show and exhibition has developed a reputation for tackling issues facing the profession, touching upon different materials and the environment that surrounds us.

This year the organisers have dispensed with a specific theme but many of the panel discussions will be centred around our physical and mental wellbeing in a post-pandemic society. Without drawing specifically on design resolutions to a situation we don’t yet fully understand, the talks at A@W2021 will address a future vision on the places where we will live, work and socialise. They will explore how we care for the most vulnerable and the fact that good design and the environment do not have to be sacrificed in the process.

It is important to gain a full picture of the built environment and so all the panels will feature speakers from a design background, as well as a client perspective – including commercial clients and local authorities. Some highlights include:

• Healthy office environments as highlighted by the wellbeing expert Ben Channon and the
head of design at The Office Group, Nasim Koerting;
• Creating better homes for the elderly according to renowned architect Sarah Wigglesworth
and Guy Flintoff from Retirement Villages;
• Ways that we can make housing more equitable, featuring Sue Morgan – head of the Design
Council – and rising star Yẹmí Aládérun from Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association;
• The changes we will see to design outside that includes Transit Studio who organised the
successful pedestrianisation project in Soho;
• Considering the changing role of the suburbs with Peter Murray of the NLA and Georgie Day
from Enfield Council;
• And hear from two designers of the most recent Maggie’s Centres – Ab Rogers and Alex de
Rijke – alongside the woman that commissioned them, Dame Laura Lee.

The six panels will take place on 27th and 28th January and anyone can register for free at
www.architect-at-work.co.uk

Pictured Top: Alex de Rijke of dRMM will discuss his Maggie’s Centre in Oldham with Ab Rogers and Dame Laura Lee

Following criticism from various trade associations, the Scottish Government have confirmed that tradespeople in Scotland may only operate in other people’s homes if deemed as essential.

The BiKBBI confirmed the BEIS clarification of essential, with an emphasis on delivery, installation and repair of key household furniture and appliances, is as follows:

“Unless there was some sort of emergency and a bathroom / kitchen was necessary for the health and safety of residents I would expect it would not be covered here <referring to the exemptions below>.

More widely, Scottish Government colleagues have confirmed today, that following recent comments by the First Minister, they will continue to monitor transmission in the construction sector. They recognise that the industry has demonstrated strong compliance and a willingness to work with Government to tighten procedures and guidance wherever possible, to tackle the new variance and this is why the majority of construction work can still be carried out.”

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 – Schedule 18.2(k) provides the “reasonable excuse” for breaching regulations to stay home as follows:

Examples of reasonable excuse 18.

(1) For the purposes of regulation 17, examples of what constitutes a reasonable excuse (see regulation 5(4)) include leaving the place where the person is living, for the purposes set out in sub-paragraph (2).(2) The purposes are to—(k) – move home or undertake activities in connection with the maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for, 

The majority of construction work in Scotland is permitted to continue at present, in both level 4 and during current ‘stay at home’ measures provided the following guidance is adhered to.    

• Work carried out in people’s homes should be limited to the provision of essential or permitted goods and services. Essential goods and services are those that fundamentally underpin, sustain and safeguard households. This includes (the list is not exhaustive): 

• Utility engineers and telecoms workers (eg electricity, gas, water, broadband) for the purpose of

• safety checks, repairs, maintenance and installations.

• Urgent repairs and maintenance – time critical repairs and maintenance that threaten the households health and safety.

• Delivery, installation and repair of key household furniture and appliances such as washing machine, refrigerator, cooker etc.

• Services in support of a home move. When working in someone’s house, tradespeople should stay 2 metres apart from the people who live there, wear a face covering and follow good hand and respiratory hygiene.

Further guidance on working in people’s homes can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-general-guidance-for-safer-workplaces/pages/work-in-other-peoples-homes-faq/