New maps for defining areas where radon protective measures are required in new buildings and New BRE guide BR211 (2007), Radon: Guidance on protective measures for new buildings introduced on 12^th November 2007.

Previously, the areas where basic or full radon protective measures are required in new buildings in England and Wales were defined by maps in the BRE publication BR211 (1999 edition), “Radon: guidance on protective measures for new dwellings” (apart from minor changes to the maps notified in 2000 and 2002).

On 12^th November 2007, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the British Geological Survey (BGS) issued new and more detailed maps of radon Affected Areas in England and Wales. An indicative atlas of radon in England and Wales is available on the HPA website, www.hpa.org.uk .

From the same date, the new HPA/BGS map data will form the basis for defining areas where basic or full radon protective measures are required in new buildings in England and Wales.  A new map which replaces the maps in both Annex A and Annex B of BR211 (1999) is available here on the BRE website. The new map is also available in a new edition of the BRE guide BR211 (2007), Radon: guidance on protective measures for new buildings. The new map shows, on a 1-km grid, those areas where radon protective measures may be required.

If a building site is in an unshaded 1-km square on the new BR211 maps, then no radon protection will be required. The shadings of other squares will indicate the highest requirement for protective measures in each 1-km square. A dark-shaded 1‑km square, which indicates areas where full protective measures may be required, may therefore include areas that will require only basic or no protective measures. Similarly, a light-shaded square which indicates areas where basic protective measures may be required, may include some areas which will require no radon protective measures. The precise requirement for radon protective measures for building sites, based on a search of the detailed HPA/BGS map data, will be available through the BGS GeoReports service at http://shop.bgs.ac.uk/Georeports/.  The requirement for radon protective measures for extensions to existing buildings with full postal addresses will be available at www.ukradon.org.

In addition to including the new maps BR211 (2007), includes more guidance and additional details to assist designers, builders and supervisory staff in building radon-proof buildings. Additional guidance is given on protecting dwellings, large buildings, extensions, and conversions. Extra advice is offered on sumps and how they work, protecting suspended timber floors and timber framed buildings, and specifying and installing radon barriers. The new guide is available from www.brebookshop.com

New maps for defining areas where radon protective measures are required in new buildings