Water Regulations Advisory Committee

Annual Report 2000

The Water Regulations Advisory Committee (WRAC) provides the technical expertise for government to support the development and enforcement of the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations, which replaced the Water Byelaws in July 1999 in England and Wales, in liaison with the water industry through the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme's Technical Committee.

WRAC's remit is "To advise the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on the technical requirements for plumbing installations and fittings to be included in the Regulations made under section 74 of the Water Industry Act 1991, the associated Guidance Document and the Regulator's Specifications; to advise on the implementation and promotion of the Regulations and to monitor and report on their operation and enforcement two years from the date they come into force".

Appointments to the Committee are for three years and members receive no remuneration, although costs of travel and subsistence are met. The members are:

WRAC holds two full meetings each year in addition to smaller working group meetings which can include co-opted members, dependant on expertise/knowledge, to discuss enforcement, approved contractor schemes and technical issues in more detail.

Enforcement Working Group provides expert advice to Ministers and main WRAC on all matters relating to enforcement of the Regulations. In order for WRAC to produce an accurate report on the Regulations for submission to the Secretary of State next year, the Chairman wrote to 100 organisations asking them to participate in a comprehensive review of the operation and enforcement of the Regulations. Organisations will be invited to submit reports in April 2001, but early notice gave them the opportunity to collect evidence.

Water companies have also been asked to collect and submit an extensive range of data on their enforcement policies and activities. In order to get an early sight of how the enforcement monitoring of the Regulations would work in practice and to ensure consistency in reporting by all water companies, a dry-run data collection exercise was undertaken involving two water companies. The working group considered the data collected in these dry runs and agreed a few revisions with the water industry to resolve any differences in the way data is reported.

Plumbing Installers Working Group has responsibility for assessing applications from organisations wishing to run Approved Contractor Schemes and then submitting their recommendations to Ministers. The Institute of Plumbing (IoP) submitted their proposals and was subsequently interviewed by the working group to establish whether the scheme was satisfactory. After further deliberation and the request that the IoP provided additional information, WRAC recommended that the Secretary of State approve the scheme. Ministers subsequently approved the application, initially for three years from 1 September 2000.

Technical Working Group provides a forum for detailed consideration of technical issues of a complex or contentious nature and advises the main Committee. The working group acts as a liaison between the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme, manufacturers and WRAC in respect of technical issues.

Shower Consultation

The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 include the provision for the Regulator to set a definition of high water consuming showers that would need to be notified to the local water company prior to installation enabling water companies to meter the users of these showers, if they wished.

WRAC consulted on a definition based on showers with more than one showerhead. However, this would result in anomalies that would be hard to justify, for example, penalising showers with more that one showerhead even if they used less water than some single-headed showers. Therefore, after further consideration, Ministers decided not to adopt a definition at this time.

BRAC

To ensure co-ordination, compatibility and to avoid duplicating procedures between the Approved Contractor Scheme and other Departmental initiatives such as the Quality Mark Scheme and self certification under the Building Regulations, reciprocal observer status has been agreed with the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC).

Work Plan for 2001

• The major task will be to prepare the report to the Secretary of State on the operation and enforcement of the Water Fittings Regulations by the end of January 2002.
• The Committee will also consider further applications for approved contractor schemes if they are forthcoming. The Department has a target of processing all applications within four months.

Contact

Ann Godfrey
WRAC Secretary
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Zone 3/G18 Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6DE

Telephone: 020 7944 5372
Fax : 020 7944 5398
Email : ann.godfrey@defra.gsi.gov.uk