A BUILDING REGULATION UPDATE in the Sunderland Echo Property Supplement
A BUILDING REGULATIONS UPDATE
We have briefly touched on the Building Regulations previously but this month we would like to look into this further as it is a large part of any project from small extensions to new houses, from multi-million pound retail parks to the fit out of a small shop.
The Building Regulations are broken down into 14 sections known as Approved Documents. These are as follow:
Approved Document A – Structure
Approved Document B – Fire Safety
Approved Document C – Site Preparation and Resistance to Contaminants and Moisture
Approved Document D – Toxic Substances
Approved Document E – Resistance to the Passage of Sound
Approved Document F – Ventilation
Approved Document G – Hygiene
Approved Document H – Drainage and Waste Disposal
Approved Document J – Combustion Appliances and Fuel Storage Systems
Approved Document K – Protection from Falling, Collision and Impact
Approved Document L – Conservation of Fuel and Power
Approved Document M – Access to and use of Buildings
Approved Document N – Glazing – Safety in Relation to Impact, Opening and Cleaning.
Approved Document P – Electrical Safety – Dwellings
Each of these documents prescribes the regulation which must be met and also offers a great deal of guidance on how to achieve the regulation. They are issued by the Communities and Local Government (formerly Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) and are periodically reviewed and amended so that they are kept up to date.
In November this year Approved Document L will be amended which will ensure every project that is submitted for Building Control Approval on or after November 1st must be 25% more energy efficient than current standards. However, these regulations will also apply if a project is currently approved by Building Control but has not commenced before 1st October 2011. Energy efficiency is an important subject in this day and age which is why these regulations are being reviewed and will continue to be updated, in 2013 these regulations will again be amended and any project must then be 44% more energy efficient than today’s standards. This will come to a head in 2016 when a further update will ensure projects are 150% more energy efficient than today’s standards or what is known as ‘Zero Carbon’. If you read this article regularly you will recall our 3rd issue on Sustainable Design in which we explained our Reed Street development in South Tyneside which is aiming to go beyond these standards and be Carbon Negative.
There are a number of ways to measure the energy efficiency of a building. The most common method which is used today (and will seemingly remain the most common) is the National Calculation Method. There are different versions of this, for dwellings it is the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) and for commercial buildings it is the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM). These calculation methods works out how much CO2 is given out by a building in two stages, the first is the Target Emission Rate (TER) and the second is the Design Emission Rate (DER). The method of producing this information for the new 2010 regulations will not change, it will simply become more difficult to achieve. What these calculations take into account ranges from the heating system used to the performance of the building fabric through to any renewable energy proposed.
The heating system will be judged by how much energy it uses to heat your home or office. This could come down to the now commonly known ratings you see in an electrical store, an ‘A’ rated boiler is better than a ‘B’ rated etc.
The building fabric is a little more technical. This is judged using ‘U’ values which tell us the amount of heat lost through a building element (wall, floor, window, roof etc.) An external wall for example currently must achieve a ‘U’ value of 0.35W/m2K, the new 2010 regulations coming into force mean that this is reduced to 0.30W/m2K.
Once the most economic heating system is specified and the building fabric is performing sufficiently, the next step is to ensure that the heat does not escape through gaps in construction. This is where air tightness becomes important. Whilst the performance standard required will not be changing, the requirement for testing will be almost doubling; currently 10% of dwellings constructed must be tested to ensure compliance.
The reason for the change in Regulations in particular is to reduce energy consumption. As you are no doubt aware, fossil fuels are dramatically depleting all over the world therefore more and more emphasis is being put on conserving and reducing energy use.
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