Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
S.I. 2021/1391: Reported for defective drafting
Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England)
Regulations 2021
1.1 The Committee draws the special attention of both Houses to
these Regulations on the grounds that they are defectively
drafted in two related respects.
1.2 These Regulations, which are subject to the negative
resolution procedure, amend existing building regulations in
relation to the measurement of energy efficiency, on-site
electricity generation and overheating. The Committee asked the
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to justify
the assertion in the footnote to regulation 1(2) that the
definition of building in regulation 2(1) of the Building
Regulations 2010 applies, given that the word is used in two
free-standing provisions of these Regulations (regulations 1 and
17) and given the default rule under section 11 of the
Interpretation Act 1978 that applies definitions of the enabling
powers (the definition of “building” being different in the
enabling Act and the 2010 Regulations). In a memorandum printed
at Appendix 1, the Department agrees that, to achieve their
purpose, the definition of building should have been expressed in
the body of the instrument. The Department undertakes to amend
the instrument when a suitable opportunity arises, hopefully
before the instrument comes into force on 15 June 2022.
The Committee accordingly reports regulation 1(2) for
defective drafting, acknowledged by the Department.
1.3 The Committee also asked the Department to explain why there
is no definition of “building work” in relation to regulations 1
and 17. In its memorandum the Department accepts that the failure
to define “building work” was an error (the intention being that
it should carry the meaning in regulation 3(1) of the Building
Regulations 2010). The Department again undertakes to amend the
instrument when a suitable opportunity arises, hopefully before
the instrument comes into force on 15 June 2022. The
Committee accordingly reports regulations 1 and 17 for defective
drafting, acknowledged by the Department.
