Agenda for Northern Ireland

09:15 Registration, coffee, networking and exhibition viewing 

10:00 Future Direction

• Welcome by NHBC Regional Director
  
• The local housing market and economy
  It is over 4 years since the start of the downturn in the local housing market. We look at current market conditions and possibilities for the future
  
• Building Regulations
  2012 will see the introduction of a significant number of amended Building Regulations, and a new approach to Regulation. We take an overview of the changes
  
• AIMC4 Project
  Research & development into low carbon homes is key to the future of house building in the UK. Pushing fabric performance is also a key principle behind AIMC4, a consortium of Barratt Developments plc, Crest Nicholson plc, Stewart Milne Group, plus manufacturer H+H UK Ltd, the BRE and Oxford Brookes University, who will share results and feedback from their extensive research from different forms of construction.

11:20 Coffee, networking and exhibition viewing

11:50 Tomorrow's Consumers

• Online acceptance of NHBC's Buildmark cover for new homes, plus a legal update post-2010 (Consumer Code, complaints and property advertising)
  NHBC explain their new online acceptance process of homes sold, which is planned to go 'live' in Q2 2012. Nabarro LLP's Gerard Nabarro provides 'lessons from the frontline' on avoiding cost and risk associated with consumer-related legal issues when buying new properties.
  
• Buildability issues including FEES (Fabric Energy Efficiency Standards) and what it means for new home buyers.
  Zero Carbon Hub (ZCH) will provide an insight into practical buildability issues, including defects, on some of the profiled projects it is monitoring in conjunction with University College London. It will explore some of the changes in housing performance being highlighted through this work, including a regeneration project in Gosport, Hants, and what it means for tomorrow's consumer.
  
• Skills & Training - Getting your team ready for the future
  Building homes using different methods of construction means understanding and selling their benefits to a range of professions. ZCH will explain some of the work that has been completed in this area, including research being carried out by the NHBC Foundation on homeowners' expectations of new housing.

13:00 Lunch, networking and exhibition viewing

14:00 Today's performance

• Design versus as-built performance
  The alignment of design, technical solutions and build quality is becoming more important from a number of different perspectives. Richards Partington Architects is passionate about ensuring that the end product lives up to expectations, and will provide clarity on achieving this in reality.
  
• Timber Frame - changes to the future of timber frame in the UK
  There are some important changes occurring in timber frame housing, which are likely to be implemented towards the end of 2011. This session by UKTFA provides clear guidance on the use of timber frame in the future.
  
• NHBC's perspective on performance
  An interactive look at the as-built performance issues that NHBC deals with on site and the subsequent problems this can lead to for builders, homeowners and NHBC. We also look at what NHBC has done to help builders on site and improve compliance.

15.45 Close