After July 1st farmers need to be extra vigilant about their new buildings, according to RIDBA.
A new regulation which could have far-reaching effects on the way farmers source new buildings is now less than five months away from coming into force.
CE Marking is not currently compulsory in the UK but after July 1st it will become a criminal offence, punishable by a prison sentence, for a steel framed building, which most agricultural buildings are, to be supplied without this mark.
It demonstrates, among other things, that the building is fit for purpose under BS EN 1090 Part 2 ‘Execution of Steel Structures and Aluminium Structures'. And in recent winters it appears many farm buildings may not have been fit for purpose, collapsing under the weight of snow because they were either not correctly designed or fabricated, luckily harming no-one.
One way that farmers can ensure the new buildings they are investing in are correctly designed and fabricated to CE Marking standards, and that lack of CE Marking does not impact on their deposit or insurance should anything go wrong, is by engaging a steel-framed building manufacturer member of RIDBA, the Rural and Industrial Design and Building Association.
RIDBA's 120 members have been helped to meet the new regulation by being given preferential access to guidance manuals and training which has markedly reduced their costs in meeting the requirements, costs which they could have chosen to pass onto their client, the farmer.
