Friday 10th June, 2022
New Building Regulations take effect from 15th June 2022
New Building Regulations take effect from 15th June 2022
By Mark Dawes, Managing Director, CAD Architects
In
December 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities announced
a raft of changes to Building Regulations that will take effect from 15th June
2022.
These come
as part of the Government’s concerted effort to drive energy efficiency and
reduce CO2 emissions. From 15th June, new homes in England will have to produce
around 30% less CO2 than current standards, whilst extensions and new
commercial buildings such as shops and offices will need to slash emissions by
27%.
The
significant update provides an uplift to existing energy efficiency standards
and marks a stepping stone towards the introduction of the Future Homes and Buildings
Standard in 2025, at which point energy efficiency standards will rise again.
The new Building Regulations are thus a ‘stopgap’ which help pave the way for the
Future Homes and Buildings Standard, which aims to future
proof new buildings with low-carbon heating systems and “world leading levels”
of energy efficiency.
The
new Building Regulations coming into force this month comprise five new
Approved Documents, including uplifts to Part L (fuel and power) and Part F
(ventilation), which will have a marked impact on new buildings and existing buildings.
The government has also published Approved Document S, which provides technical
guidance regarding the installation of electric car charge points in homes.
Local
authorities have the power to enforce these regulations, so any builders not
following the rules could face legal action.
As a
leading Chartered Architects practice in the South West, we welcome these new
regulations as an important step forward on the journey to achieving Net Zero
by 2050.
Here
are some of the key headlines from the new Building Regulations for new and
existing homes:
New
homes
An
entirely new Building Regulation and Approved Document O has been set up to
mitigate the risk of overheating in new homes. One key inclusion is that
maximum limits to the amount of glazing will be set on new residential
buildings.
New
homes will adopt the Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard to measure energy
efficiency.
There
will be a maximum flow temperature requirement of 55°C for new and replacement
heating systems, as part of the Part L uplift.
An
appendix has also been included in Part L which sets out a good practice
specification for a home built with a heat pump.
Existing
homes
In existing
homes, standards have been raised to reduce energy use and carbon emissions
during home improvements.
Uplifts
to Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations have set new minimum standards
for fabric efficiency. For example, there will be a new efficiency metric for
the whole house calculation method for new extensions.
It
will be a requirement for new or replacement heating system designs to accept
low-carbon heating in future, including integrating the latest Ecodesign
appliance benchmarks.
There
is one important point to know If you’ve already submitted a building notice,
initial notice, or full plan before 15th June 2022. In this
case, the previous regulations will
apply and you just need to make sure building work starts before 15 June 2023.
Otherwise,
the new Building Regulations will be enforced for all work from 15th
June 2022.
For
further information and advice about how to comply with the new Building
Regulations, as well as expert recommendations for improving the energy
efficiency of your building project, contact our team at: studio@cadarchitects.co.uk.
Here
are some useful links to the specific documents with the latest updates.