PLANNING AND BUILDING REGULATIONS

Planning

The Code for Sustainable Homes was introduced by the Government in December 2006. While compliance in the private sector is currently voluntary, Local Authority Planning Departments may require commitments in terms of a code level to be achieved before granting planning consent. The minimum standards for code compliance have been set above the requirements for Building Regulations. For example, to achieve code three, a home must have insulation properties 25% above the Building Regulations requirements.

Building Regulations

The 2006 Building Regulations aim to reduce CO₂ emissions in dwellings by around 2.8 million tonnes to 2010.

New Dwellings
Guidance is provided in Approved Document L1A, 2006. Each new house has to be subjected to a whole house heat loss calculation and the score, in terms of CO₂ released per m2 internal floor area per annum, has to be 20% better than it would have been if it had been built to the 2002 Regulations. The approved calculation tool is known as SAP 2005.

For simplicity’s sake, a 20% ‘improvement’ to the 2002 elemental U Values gives the following result (a useful starting point):

Air tightness Testing
Air tightness testing may be required as part of the SAP calculation for Building Regulations Approval.

Existing Dwellings
Guidance is provided in Approved Document L1B, 2006. The regulations require that whenever works are carried out, reasonable provision should be made to improve the efficiency of the thermal envelope (walls, floors, roof, windows and doors).

The following U Values table represent a guide. For extensions it is acceptable to trade-off reduced insulation in one element against enhanced insulation in another.

Buildings other the Dwellings

Since 6 April 2006 all newly constructed buildings other than dwellings, and most extensions to these buildings need to comply with five separate criterion including the requirement to provide calculations (similar to SAP) using the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) or similar approved calculation tool.