News

July 2010 SPRA opposes delay with Part L

Part L The 2010 version of the Building Regulations Approved document Part L is due for implementation on 1^st October. There are moves to delay this on the grounds that the national calculation methods (SAP for dwellings and SBEM for non-dwellings) are not sufficiently reliable to enable design for carbon reduction. SPRA recognises these problems but argues that any delay now will have implications for the overall carbon reduction target leading to ‘zero carbon’ (net, from buildings) by 2020. SPRA believes that problems with the calculation method should be resolved between developers and their designers and the building control bodies but must not be allowed to slow the carbon reduction process because there are likely to be far more serious technical challenges ahead.

July 2010 New guidance on guarantees

title The revised guide includes new criteria adopted by our membrane manufacturers.

July 2010 New apprenticeship for single ply roofing

SPRA Council has agreed to push on with a new two-year ‘Specialist Apprenticeship Programme’ for new entrants to single ply roofing. The apprenticeship will be available from 2011 and will include not only key skills and health and safety training but also product-specific training by the manufacturer(s) whose products the candidate’s employer currently installs. The successful candidate will complete the apprenticeship by attainment of NVQ Level 2 in Applied waterproof membranes – single ply roofing.

June 2010 Research on wind loading

Accurate calculation of wind loads acting on roofs is crucial for design. SPRA members apply safety factors to the means of attachment (mechanical, adhesion, ballast) to ensure a wide margin of security. SPRA Technical Committee has appointed a task group to review the new calculation method EN1991-1-4 which is due to replace the existing (BS6399 Part 2) during 2010. The task group has taken a series of notional buildings in various UK locations and compared the wind loads calculated by these methods. A preliminary report is available here

June 2010 Special task group to investigate adhesives

A special meeting of SPRA members and manufacturers of polyurethane-based adhesives will be held in July. This will follow on from the work completed in 2008 to produce a checklist for quality control alt

guide SGD6/08 [ 513.17 KB] The group will agree test criteria for the performance of adhesives used in several situations in single pl

y (and other) roofing:

Vapour control layer to deck.
Insulation to vapour control layer.
Insulation to insulation (multi-layer situations such as tapered insulation schemes).
Single ply membrane to insulation.

June 2010 SPRA techical guidance - authority through experience

Technical committee chairman Martyn Holloway has presided over a new style for the ‘highly respected SPRA Technical Committee’. Membership growth has dictated that this group, which represents membrane manufacturers, associate component manufacturers and contractor representatives, now manages a series of task groups. Read more.. alt

RCI editorial [54.54 KB]

May 2010 Delomac Roofing wins at the National Roofing Awards

SPRA member Delomac Roofing won the Best Single Ply Roof at the National Roofing Awards held on 14 May at the Novotel Hammersmith. The project was the refurbishment of Frobisher Crescent, Barbican. Delomac were commended for the standard achieved in the complex barrel-vault design, which involved thermal upgrading and mechanical fixing to the existing structure. The work was undertaken during occupation of the interior.