PART J of BUILDING REGULATIONS

The Building Regulations Approved Document J and the UK implementation of European standards for chimneys and flues

Guidance and supplementary information on the UK implementation of european standards for chimneys and flues

Introduction

Current building regulations in England and Wales (2000) lay down goal setting requirements for the construction of chimneys and flues and are supported by Approved Document J (2002) which provides guidance on meeting the requirements. This, in turn, is supported by a raft of British Standards and other recognised industry documents which have been developed during a period of several decades to lead and reflect good industry practice as applied in England and Wales.

The chimney and fuel industry, together with the DCLG have produced a guidance document to help the UK industry make the gradual change from using British Standards to using the new European Standards.

Older references to ODPM should now be to Communities and Local Government(CLG)
You can link to Building Regulations on the CLG site:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/buildingregulations/

The BFCMA guidance document

The BFCMA Guidance and supplementary information on the UK implementation of European standards for chimneys and flues was published by The Stationary Office at the same time as the Approved Document J; 2002 (ADJ). With changes to standards, an updated edition was published in October 2004 - see link to BFCMA ADJ guidance document below.

Hard copies of the ADJ document can be obtained from the Stationary Office, London 123 Kingsway, London WC2B 6PQ, tel 0870 600 5522. Or you can order on-line from TSOnline.

Link to Part J

Please note that Part J was updated in 2006. The updated version is published by RIBA

http://www.ribabookshops.com/site/viewtitle.asp?sid=&pid=3210&HID=954

An online version of the ADJ is available from the Communities and Local Government(CLG) website. (Follow this link).

Hard copies of the BFCMA ADJ guidance document (APPROVED DOCUMENTJ: 2002 EDITION: GUIDANCE and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION on the UK IMPLEMENTATION of EUROPEAN STANDARDS for CHIMNEYS and FLUES - ISBN 0-11 753919 8) can also be obtained from the Stationary Office, London 123 Kingsway, London WC2B 6PQ, tel 0870 600 5522.

An online version of the BFCMA ADJ guidance document updated in March 2008 (0.5Mb) is available from this website, (we suggest the file is downloaded to your system, right click on the link and choose 'save target as').

The BFCMA ADJ Guidance document, is intended to provide guidance on the Building Regulations Approved Document J (ADJ) during the transitional period in which there is a move toward using European Standards for specifying and installing chimneys. It is aimed at specifiers, builder's merchants, builders, and manufacturers and installers of chimneys and associated products and appliances, together with enforcers, e.g. building control officers, CORGI inspectors, and training providers.

The document is presented in 2 Parts:-

Part 1 provides guidance on the general issues of European standardisation for chimneys, the overall framework of legislation under which this process is taking shape.

It also oulines the new way of designating chimney products according to the essential performance characteristics.

Part 2 considers the implications for British industry by examining the current ADJ in the light of the new European standards for chimneys. Each clause of ADJ has been examined and a comment made where there will be an anticipated change either in fact or in the way in which a provision is referenced.

Changes to Part 2
As new European Standards are produced, the advice and guidance contained in Part 2 of the guidance document will need to be updated. Changes were made in 2004 and a new edition was published in October 2004. That revised edition is available from the link above.

Useful hotlinks to other sites
The following web sites might also contain useful information.

BBA, British Board of Agrement: www.bbacerts.co.uk
BSRIA www.bsria.co.uk
Construction Monitor www.dti.gov.uk/construction/index.htm
DCLG www.communities.gov.uk
OFTEC www.oftec.org/
HETAS www.hetas.co.uk/
List of members of the BFCMA

We can be contacted at our Registered Office:
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