Convenient Access for Bats
Legislation requires provision to allow access for bats.
Legislation requires provision to allow access for bats.
If your property is curently, has recently, or is suspected of ever having been, home to any number of bats, legislation requires you to take expert advice and precautions when replacing a roof.
This legislation requires provision to allow access for bats if they, or when they, return.
This legislation is enforced with severe penalties for non compliance
An innovative range of ‘bat access tiles’ from Tudor Roof Tile Co Ltd, is helping builders and conservationists protect Britain’s endangered bat population. Designed to take advantage of Tudor tiles double camber, the access solutions will also work in all plain tile roof coverings (of any brand).
All UK bats and their roosts are protected by law. The Wildlife & Countryside Act introduced in 1981, gave legal protection to all bat species and their roosts in England.
The Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations 1994 as amended (most recently in 2009 and 2010 and better known as the Habitats Regulations), further strengthened this legal protection.
Bat-related offences are arrestable. The potential fine for each offence is £5,000 per bat. An offender can also be imprisoned for six months.
If any property has been, or is suspected to have been, home to any number of bats, at any time, legislation requires taking advice and precautions when working on the roof. Legislation also requires provision to allow access for bats to enable their return.
Different species of bats prefer differing places to roost. The two most usually found species in the UK are Pipistrelle and Brown Long-Eared. Pipistrelle prefer confined spaces such as under tiles on roof and hanging. The Brown Long-Eared prefer roof timbers and ridges inside lofts.
Tudor Roof Tiles Co. Limited can provide purpose made access points within your roof tiles or ridge tiles. The Bat Access Set can form part of a mitigation package required by law for existing roosts or as potential access where a roost had not previously been present.
Available in all Tudor colours, or in Natural Clay (without sand face), the Bat Access Set presents a bat optimised entrance to the under-felt, or to the loft when the under-felt is opened. For use within the roof tiles, the top ‘tunnel’ tile offers the bat an 18mm high x 165mm long (approx.) tunnel to an entrance hole in the undertiles. This allows the bat to crawl into the roost area.
An advantage of Tudor's tiles large double camber, is that it provides the maximum amount of natural air flow under the tiles. The carefully designed access, along with this air flow between the tiles and the under-felt, aims to provide conditions where the bats are protected from any extremes of heat. Tudor also offer ridge tiles with a similar 18mm access cut into the ride tile side, and we can look to manufacture bespoke access tiles to your requirement.
Bats and the Law (guide download)