At the end of 2021, to support the government’s target of the country becoming net zero carbon by 2050, it was announced that there would be new rules coming in for builders in England.
These changes form part of the roadmap to the 2025 Future Homes Standard, with the aim to encourage the construction sector to play its part in reducing carbon emissions and strive to make buildings more energy efficient.
The new changes came into effect from 15th June 2022. All new Building Regulation applications submitted from this date will need to apply the new rules, unless work had already commenced on site.
There is a one-year transition period to allow for Building Regulation applications already underway (for applications submitted prior to 15th June 2022, building work must commence before 15 June 2023, otherwise the new rules apply).
For multiple dwellings in this scenario, work on all units must commence before 15th June 2023. Any dwellings not started by this date must meet the new standards.
The new Part L building regulations introduce a range of efficiency standards for buildings, requiring a 31% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to 2013 standards for dwellings and 27% for commercial buildings.
The changes also include updated insulation requirements for new homes, which will now be assessed under a new Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculation called SAP10.
For existing homes, if new or replacement thermal elements such as windows and doors are in plan, the updated minimum fabric efficiency standards will now apply.
Under the new rules on-site audits must be conducted to confirm that the design details in their plans have been constructed, and photographs must be taken as evidence. U-values have also been increased and the recommendations discourage thermal bridging.
Additionally, under the new Part L regulations, there is a change in the low flow temperature requirement for heating systems with the maximum flow temperatures in a central heating system now set to 55°C, where it was previously over 75°C, plus additional guidelines for the amount of glazing included in extensions and improvements for lighting design.
The uplift to Building Regulations Part F relates to the indoor air quality of a building. The changes are intended to make it easier to understand the impact of ventilation in a home as, without it, the building could become overheated and the occupants inhaling unhealthy air.
To achieve good indoor air quality, Part F now recommends advanced ventilation solutions for all new builds. These include continuous mechanical extract ventilation, recirculating ventilation, and heat recovery. Natural ventilation will only be allowed in dwellings with a design air permeability greater than 5 m3/(m2/h).
The most important requirement to note for renovators and extenders is that when energy efficiency work is undertaken in existing homes, the ventilation must not be made any worse, in line with existing measures for controlled services and fittings.
All replacement windows are to be fitted with trickle vents unless a) there is an alternative form of ventilation, such as air bricks or whole house Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), or b) the works do not result in the ventilation being worse than before the works were undertaken.
The new aspect of Building Regulations, Part O, addresses the potential issues of overheating and applies to all new dwellings where people sleep overnight, including new houses, flats, student accommodation, care homes and similar living accommodation.
The aim of Part O is to ensure buildings are designed to limit excess solar gain and provide occupants with adequate means of quickly removing excess heat.
In order to achieve compliance, there are two methods laid out in the new regulations, a simplified checklist method or CIBSE’s TM59 thermal modelling, with standards based on whether a house is cross-ventilated or not. There is also a standard included for the maximum amount of glazing allowed in a single room.
The introduction of the new Approved Document S covers how new buildings must include infrastructure for electric vehicles, with the aim to future-proof all new properties and make them ready for the EV market.
Under these new regulations, all new buildings with associated parking must have at least one EV charging point, providing at least seven kW of untethered power to a vehicle.
They also include requirements for change of use, flats that undergo renovations along with non-residential buildings.
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