With society becoming much more litigious, when something goes wrong - for example, a bath scalding accident - it is becoming increasingly clear that the owner of the property, where the incident happened, will be held responsible.

To help RSLs avoid being sued, the Housing Corporation Scheme Development Standards recommends that for general housing (new build and refurbished), bath taps should have a thermostatically controlled hot water supply. While domestic hot water is stored at 60° C to supply kitchens with hot water, this temperature is, however, far too hot for bathing. Exposure to this temperature, even for a few seconds, can result in third degree burns with the very young, the elderly and those with physical disabilities most at risk.

In light of the new proposals by the ODPM to include thermostatic mixing valves in the Building Regulations for new and refurbished private housing, it is perhaps only a matter of time before it becomes mandatory for TMVs to be installed in all social housing. Currently, thermostatic mixing valves are required in all NHS properties, private hospitals and care homes under the NHS model engineering specifications D08, with approval for these valves administered under the TMV3 Scheme.

More recently, a new breed of TMVs has been developed for the domestic market, which have been independently tested and approved for purpose under the TMV2 scheme launched in November last year.

Horne Engineering Ltd has designed a valve specifically for the TMV2 domestic market. Its HEATSTAT T2, a 22mm valve was, the company claims, the first to be granted approval for both high and low pressure bath designations; which means that the valve is large enough to cope with low water pressure situations common in the UK.