It is quite common for long term building programmes to straddle changes in the regs. the classic is probably Heathrow terminal 5, which was designed and built to a set of rules that had changed at least  twice by it was all finished.

What happens  to accommodate this depends on contractual detail, rather than anything the set by IET.

To clarify, if the contract was specific, 'installation to BS7671 : 2018' or whatever,  it is a lot clearer that 'to the latest version' which results in a perambulatory (moving goal posts) requirement that can never be confidently quoted for, or ' to BS7671' without clarification of a date. The usual interpretation is that what will be delivered will meet the requirements as they stood at the time it was agreed but there is room for argument it could be when the job started, especially if no design work was actually done for a long time after contract award.

In any case, the final certification is then the previous version, and this is recorded in the notes - designed and tested to (earlier version) as set by contract dated xyz.. or design agreed date nnn.

Any new contracts, changes etc  of course are to the current as that is the only one that can sensibly be quoted for.

However, unless the installation is quite unusual there will not be that many differences, and if need be they can be singled out.

Mike..

mapj1 said:

It is quite common for long term building programmes to straddle changes in the regs. the classic is probably Heathrow terminal 5, which was designed and built to a set of rules that had changed at least  twice by it was all finished.

Precisely, and Terminal 5 is a great example, but I've worked on a number of large projects where they span a number of Amendments and sometimes versions of the standard.

mapj1 said:

The usual interpretation is that what will be delivered will meet the requirements as they stood at the time it was agreed but there is room for argument it could be when the job started, especially if no design work was actually done for a long time after contract award.

Yes, usually standards and legislation are taken to be those in force on an agreed date.

Changes to standards and legislation are subject to the Contract Variations procedures, and these procedures are accounted for in the standard forms of contract often used in large construction programmes.

As AJJewsbury  points out, the wording in the introduction about implementation of BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 and the withdrawal of BS 7671:2018+A1:2020 has changed - you never know, it might be because of the above and uncertainties that might otherwise arise with the former wording.

Martin Desbrulais said:

We are currently completing design from Stage 4 to 5. The project has been on going since 2020 with a completion date of September 2024. There was a design Freeze in April 2022 which was signed off by fire engineer and building control.

I would recommend you have a look at the Contract, and General and Particular Specifications, to determine the versions of standards to use, and also the procedure for Variations. It's worth checking whether anything in BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 has any changes that might change risk assessments (CDM or otherwise) for the project.

mapj1 said:

It is quite common for long term building programmes to straddle changes in the regs. the classic is probably Heathrow terminal 5, which was designed and built to a set of rules that had changed at least  twice by it was all finished.

Precisely, and Terminal 5 is a great example, but I've worked on a number of large projects where they span a number of Amendments and sometimes versions of the standard.

mapj1 said:

The usual interpretation is that what will be delivered will meet the requirements as they stood at the time it was agreed but there is room for argument it could be when the job started, especially if no design work was actually done for a long time after contract award.

Yes, usually standards and legislation are taken to be those in force on an agreed date.

Changes to standards and legislation are subject to the Contract Variations procedures, and these procedures are accounted for in the standard forms of contract often used in large construction programmes.

As AJJewsbury  points out, the wording in the introduction about implementation of BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 and the withdrawal of BS 7671:2018+A1:2020 has changed - you never know, it might be because of the above and uncertainties that might otherwise arise with the former wording.

Martin Desbrulais said:

We are currently completing design from Stage 4 to 5. The project has been on going since 2020 with a completion date of September 2024. There was a design Freeze in April 2022 which was signed off by fire engineer and building control.

I would recommend you have a look at the Contract, and General and Particular Specifications, to determine the versions of standards to use, and also the procedure for Variations. It's worth checking whether anything in BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 has any changes that might change risk assessments (CDM or otherwise) for the project.