BRE Home Quality Mark (HQM)

PROTECT A CYCLE – SECURE BICYCLE STORAGE

A guide to how Trimetals products can help towards achieving the BRE Home Quality Mark

What is the BRE Home Quality Mark?

The Home Quality Mark (HQM) is the national quality mark designed to give people the confidence that their new home is well designed, well built, and cost-effective to run. It also allows house builders to demonstrate the high quality of their homes and to differentiate them in the marketplace.

It is developed by BRE with an extensive list of partners from the private and social housing sectors and promotes the positive attributes of quality and performance in a new build home.

Every home with an HQM certificate meets standards that are significantly higher than minimum standards such as Building Regulations.

How can Trimetals products help?

The UK Government is supporting a move towards alternative types of sustainable transport through, for example, the cycling delivery plan which encourages people to cycle and walk, and providing grants for ‘plug-in cars’.

Supporting the provision of alternative sustainable transport options can play an important role in allowing people to travel around their local area, while reducing associated congestion and carbon emissions and improving air quality.

Providing cycle storage gains valuable credits towards your Home Quality Mark rating.

BRE Home Quality Mark Rating Explained

HQM has two elements, a five-star rating system that gives the overall picture of a home’s quality, and a set of indicators on individual aspects of its performance – such as build quality, running costs and health benefits.

The five-star rating gives an overall picture of the home’s quality.

A 1 star home meets the key baselines beyond minimum standards.

A 5 star home signifies a truly outstand home which pushes the boundaries.

The indicators focus on three key areas: Cost, well-being, and footprint. These indicators are each scored between 1-5.

A score of 1 or 2 are going beyond minimum standards. A score of 3 or above means a home meets high standards for the indicator.

How many credits can cycle storage obtain?

Credits can be awarded based upon the size of the home and the number of cycle spaces provided, as detailed below:

3 credits are awarded for:

• Studios or 1 bedroom dwellings – storage for 1 cycle for every two dwellings
• 2 and 3 bedroom dwellings – storage for 1 cycle per dwelling
• 4 bedrooms and above – storage for 2 cycles per dwelling

and 6 credits are awarded for:

• Studios or 1 bedroom dwellings – storage for 1 cycle per dwelling
• 2 and 3 bedroom dwellings – storage for 2 cycles per dwelling
• 4 bedrooms and above – storage for 4 cycles per dwelling

These credits go towards the overall star rating and contributes towards the three key criteria: cost, well-being, and footprint.

Each criterion is rated in terms of the likelihood that it will impact house holders living costs (My cost), health & wellbeing (My wellbeing) and environmental footprint (My footprint). Promoting cycling:

• Reduces costs compared with maintaining and running a traditionally fuelled car (medium impact).
• Encourages active travel, improving people’s health (medium impact).
• Encourages clean travel and so helps to improve the air quality of the local area (medium impact).

To calculate the indicator points available for ‘Cycle storage’, you simply multiply the indicator ratings of 0.5 (medium impact) by the number of credits available for the ‘Cycle storage’ (see above).

Why our solution?

The Protect a Cycle is designed to comply with the requirements of the Home Quality Mark and is certified to LPS 1175 Issue 8: Security Rating 1/A1. Certificate Number 899c

External containers specifically designed for the secure storage of bicycles and other property should be certificated to one of the following minimum security standards:

• LPS 1175 Issue 7.2:2014 Security Rating 1 (or above); or
• LPS 1175 Issue 8:2018 Security Rating 1/A1 (or above); or
• STS 202 Issue 7:2016 Burglary Rating 1 (or above); or
• LPS 2081 Issue 1.1:2016 Security Rating A; or
• Sold Secure (Bronze, Silver or Gold).

Contact Information

Please contact us if you require any further information or require a quote – we offer sizeable discounts for larger orders. Tel: 01258 459441, email: info@trimetals.co.uk

For more information on the ProtectaCycle visit https://www.trimetals.co.uk/protect-a-cycle/product-info/