Approved Document R

Article 8 of the 2014 Broadband Cost Reduction Directive required that new buildings and major renovations should include the provision of in-building physical infrastructure to support connections to superfast broadband.

In response to this, and following a consultation process carried out in 2015, the government introduced new regulations (SI 2016/490) which introduced requirements for in-building physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks, and Approved Document R, Physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communication networks, to provide guidance on these requirements.

Approved documents provide guidance for how the building regulations can be satisfied in common situations.

Approved Document R was published in April 2016 and took effect on 1 January 2017. It applies in England to new buildings and to existing buildings subject to major renovation works.

It introduces a requirement for infrastructure enabling the installation of copper or fibre-optic cables or wireless devices capable of delivering broadband speeds of more than 30 Mbps. In-building infrastructure is required from the service provider’s access point, to the occupier’s network termination point.

The service provider's access point is ‘…the physical point, located inside or outside the building, accessible to undertakings providing or authorised to provide public communications networks, where connection to the high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure is made available.’

The network termination point is ‘…a physical point at which an occupier is provided with access to high-speed electronic communications networks’.

The contents of the approved document are:

• The approved documents.
• The Building Regulations.
• Approved Document R, Physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communication networks.

1. Summary

• Section 1: In-building infrastructure.

1. Introduction.
2. Application.
3. Ductwork for copper and fibre optic cables.
4. Satellite and wireless communications.
5. Further information.

• Appendix A: Key terms.
• Appendix B: Documents referred to.

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