SBD National Building Approval gathers pace with 3,000 buildings added over the last six months

These sites are located in 17 different Police Force areas around the UK.

There are 23 SBD NBA member companies and organisations, mostly in the new-build residential marketplace.

They include Barratt Homes (Eastern Division), Berkeley Homes (East Thames), Bovis Homes, Crest Nicholson, David Wilson Homes, Forman Homes Ltd, Gleeson Homes, Redrow and Taylor Wimpey.

Springfield Properties has become the first developer in Scotland to join NBA.

Among the NBA member organisations commissioning building work, such as social landlords and housing associations, is London and Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q), also known as Quadrant Construction, which is the largest landlord in Greater London. They have 90,000 homes under management across London and the South East and are one of the largest residential property developers with ambitions to build 100,000 more over the next 10 years.

During November 2017, the SBD NBA scheme welcomed its first contractor, Durkan Ltd, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, along with its associated development company Durkan Estates Ltd, which deals with land purchases and planning permissions.

In addition, SBD is poised to engage with local authorities about NBA and gain their membership too.

SBD NBA was launched in 2016 and seeks to deliver security for new-build developments and major refurbishment schemes across a wide range of sectors, including residential, commercial, retail, mixed-use, transport, health, education, leisure and many others.

One of the scheme’s main benefits is that, after agreement has been reached on the basic level of building security to be provided before any development is planned or built, SBD takes on the administrative task of carrying out due diligence on the member company’s supply chain.

This is to ensure that security standards for products, including doors, windows and roof-lights, are compliant with the Building Regulations in England and Scotland, and/or meet the requirements set by SBD, whichever is applicable.

Many companies and organisations tell us that executing due diligence can be extremely difficult and time consuming and SBD has removed a significant burden from them.

Once an agreement is in place, members simply register their future building developments or refurbishment schemes using a single, one-page form. Once received, SBD issues a Silver Certificate for the site they have registered in advance of any building work to recognise the steps taken to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour. Companies and organisations can join prior to registering sites.

The Certificate is valid for a development anywhere in the UK and does not require a separate local agreement to be reached with that area’s Police Force. New building designs or types can be added or removed at any time, as can any new door, window or roof-light supplier.

Our work with the Department for Communities and Local Government, National House Building Council, Local Authority Building Control and the Building Control Alliance, means that the SBD Silver Certificate can be used by members as evidence to discharge their third-party obligations under Part Q of Schedule 1 (Security) to the Building Regulations 2010 in England and the Scottish Building Standard 4.13 – Security.

It also discharges any other obligation placed upon the build by third parties to gain Section 2 (Physical Security) approval from the range of SBD published Building Guides, including SBD Homes, SBD Commercial and SBD Schools.

In addition to the English and Scottish Building regulations, the publication of the new Welsh Building Regulation for the security of new homes is imminent. SBD has been involved in a support capacity and has assisted in the creation of the new Welsh Approved Document; it is understood that SBD NBA will meet or exceed all of the requirements within the new Regulation.

The Silver Certificate is issued centrally by SBD, which has a network of 200 SBD trained Designing Out Crime Officers on hand to support and guide members should they require it.

Members can choose to go one step further to achieve an SBD Gold Certificate, which will show that they have also incorporated proven crime prevention techniques not only into building security, but also into the layout and landscaping of developments, such as through increasing natural surveillance, limiting excessive through movement and creating defensible space. This additional award is made only by the local Police Force following appropriate levels of consultation.

SBD NBA Lead, Michael Brooke, who has championed the scheme, said NBA is encouraging those companies and organisations involved in the creation of new and refurbished developments to adopt the initiative as a route to achieving Building Regulation compliance.

“Members are saying that they are valuing the time and money savings they are making because of our faster and simplified process, which takes much of the administrative burden off them.

“They receive their award quickly and don’t have to wait until the end of the build or worry that an award may not be made. This removes the risk that staff may change during a lengthy process causing issues, delays and costs.”

Michael explained that the Certificates should be seen as a positive endorsement that the police are happy with the level of security being provided within the development and would encourage all members to make as much use of these awards as they see fit.

“Companies and organisations become an SBD member in their own right appearing on our website, using our logos and can feature in our publicity.

“Some members display our award in their sales centres, provide a copy within home owner/tenant packs and reference their membership and use of NBA within their planning material and applications,” he said.

Of the 65 fabricators in the supply chains of existing NBA members, 59 are SBD member companies.

Chair of the Building Control Alliance, Martin Conlon, said: “The Building Control Alliance welcomes the introduction of Secured by Design National Building Approval and acknowledges the award as one way of demonstrating compliance with Part Q of the Building Regulations (England)”.

Secured by Design

Secured by Design (SBD) is the national police crime prevention initiative. Our aim is to achieve sustainable reductions in crime through design and other approaches to enable people to live in a safer society.

Tel: 0203 8623 999

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