The parliamentary under secretary in the office of the deputy prime minister, Phil Hope, has accepted the HBF's proposals on using 'robust standard details' (RSDs) as an alternative to pre-completion testing.
In a written ministerial statement on 21 January 2004, the parliamentary under secretary said he had decided to allow RSDs to be used in order to demonstrate compliance with Part E of the building regulations.
This applies only to the sound insulation between new houses and flats.
The option to use robust details will probably come into force on 1 July 2004 and amendment regulations will be published before then.
The HBF has convinced the government that the use of RSDs will result in significantly improved standards while imposing much less of a burden on industry than pre-completion testing.