Regulations which have been in place from 1st May 2006 in Scotland require that the hot water to a bath or bidet in new homes or refurbished bathrooms is capped at a maximum temperature of 48°C.

This comes in response to the preventable tragedies of injury and even death from scalding. In the UK, over 500 people a year are admitted to hospital with burns from scalding, and the huge majority of these are children under 5. Critics of the proposals branded them a dictate of the “nanny state”, but regulations and guidelines have already been followed for years in the public sector and now the UK is joining a growing number of countries where it is seen as logical that all vulnerable groups - such as children and the elderly - should be safe at home, where most accidents occur.

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Safety valve specialist, Reliance Water Controls has developed a range of thermostatic mixing valves suitable for ensuring stable water temperatures at a pre-set maximum in domestic bathrooms. The valves are approved under the BuildCert TMV2 scheme run by WRAS, which tests that a product meets the requirements of European standards BSEN1111 and BSEN1287. TMV2 approved valves are suitable for complying with the building regulations, and include Reliance’s market-leading Heatguard TMV2 range, and the Heatguard LS2, plus the Heatguard BF2-2 which is specifically designed for bathfill at low pressures.

The TMV2 Scheme Approved thermostatic mixing valve can be fitted close to the hot outlet, allowing water to be stored at a sufficiently high temperature to prevent legionella growth (typically 60°C) whilst blending hot and cold supplies to a pre-set maximum temperature for the tap, even cutting out altogether if one supply fails. Outlet temperature remains sufficiently high to allow the bather to mix a hot bath, according to preference, but will also allow several minutes for the user to get out or summon help before being scalded should they find themselves in full temperature water whereas at bathfill temperatures of 55-60°C, severe scalding would take less than 5 seconds.