You report that the government is to decide this month whether pressure testing will be required to conform with Part L of the 好色先生TV Regulations (3 June, page 64).

Ministers are, you write, coming under heavy pressure from the House Builders Federation not to require any such pre-completion testing, because the federation is afraid of the consequences of their members鈥� constructions failing the tests.

I am not surprised. Last year I oversaw the first-ever substantial study of the energy standards of new homes while in occupation. The result of that survey was woeful. It demonstrated that half of all new homes fail to meet even the minimum energy standards 鈥� which themselves are, as the government鈥檚 energy white paper admits, woefully unambitious compared with other European countries.

Mandatory pressure testing would reveal to a prospective homeowner if they were about to buy a building that would be more expensive to run, and more damaging to the environment. The HBF spokesperson is right to argue that such tests would cause delay while the fault is rectified, thus adding to their costs. That is why, in common with every other manufacturer of consumer goods, they have a responsibility to ensure that their 鈥減roduct鈥� is properly made in the first place.

Andrew Warren, director, Association for the Conservation of Energy

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