Guidance

Code for sustainable homes: technical guidance

This technical guidance sets out the requirements for the Code for sustainable homes.

This publication was withdrawn on

Following the technical housing standards review, the government has withdrawn the code for sustainable homes, aside from the management of legacy cases.

Legacy cases are those where residential developments are legally contracted to apply a code policy (eg. affordable housing funded through the national Affordable Housing Programme 2015 to 2018, or earlier programme), or where planning permission has been granted subject to a condition stipulating discharge of a code level, and developers are not appealing the condition or seeking to have it removed or varied. In these instances it is possible to continue to conduct code assessments.

Details of the new approach to the setting of technical housing standards in England were announced on 27 March 2015 and a new set of streamlined national technical standards were published. A planning written ministerial statement was also published which outlined the government’s policy on the application of these technical standards for plan making and decision-taking.

The code for sustainable homes webpage is available for the purposes of administering legacy cases only.

Documents

Code for sustainable homes: Technical Guidance - November 2010

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Details

(Please note that an addendum to the Code was published on 30 May 2014 and should be read in conjunction with the November 2010 Code Technical Guidance. This addendum brings the Code into line with regulatory and national guidance changes.)

This technical guidance sets out the requirements for the Code for sustainable homes. It sets out the process by which a Code assessment is reached. It aims to make gaining a Code assessment as simple, transparent and rigorous as possible. It replaces the ‘May 2009 Version 2’ of the Code Technical Guidance. A summary of the main changes made to the Code are provided in The Code for sustainable homes: Summary of the changes to the Technical Guidance - 2010 publication.

The Code for sustainable homes: Technical Guidance - frequently asked questions (Excel 423Kb) document provides frequently asked questions for the Code for sustainable homes Technical Guidance manual. To aid clarity, it follows the format of the Technical Guidance and is split into separate sections. The FAQs have been compiled by the Building Research Establishment, and will be reviewed quarterly.

In order to establish whether the previous or the new version of the Code applies for you, please see The Code for sustainable homes: Transitional Arrangements (PDF 30Kb) guidance document.

This is a priced publication available from RIBA Bookshops Mail Order, 15 Bonhill Street, London, EC2P 2EA. Order through the orders telephone line: 020 7256 7222, fax: 020 7374 2737, email: sales@ribabookshops.com or visit www.ribabookshops.com to buy online.

Published 11 November 2010
Last updated 30 May 2014 + show all updates
  1. Added link to May 2014 addendum.

  2. First published.