Radon Protection Requirements

27 January 2023

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NHBC informed customers late last year that the UK Health Security Agency and British Geological Survey published an updated radon potential map for Great Britain on 1st December 2022. The updated maps identify several areas of England, Scotland and Wales where radon protection requirements may have increased for new buildings. There are no transitional provisions in place for the implementation to the new mapping and as such the information in them is applicable to all new sites and those already under construction at the time of their introduction.

All sites registered with NHBC from 1st December 2022 onwards will have been assessed against the updated radon maps by NHBC and will be required to have radon protection measures installed in accordance with the updated mapping.

For sites registered prior to 1st December 2022, many customers have already taken proactive steps to ensure that those sites affected by the changes are updated to include any new measures required.

From 1st February 2023 plots commencing construction will be required to have radon protection measures installed in accordance with the updated mapping to demonstrate compliance with NHBC Standards and Building Regulations. NHBC staff will be updating conditions to reflect this over the coming weeks.

For those plots which have already commenced since the publication of the revised maps builders should discuss with their NHBC contact how best compliance could be demonstrated where a higher level of protection is required than has presently been provided. 

NHBC will be contacting all builders affected by these changes and inspection and technical staff will assist builders with any related queries they may have.

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