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The Building Regulations 2010
ISBN 978 1 85946 324 6
Stock code 72232
© Crown Copyright, 2010
Reprint December 2010, with corrections
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BuildingRegulations2010APPROVEDDOCUMENTL1AConservationoffuelandpower
In effect from 1 October 2010
L1A Conservation of fuel and power
in new dwellings
L1AAPPROVED
DOCUMENT
Conservation of fuel and power
Cert no. TT-COC-002168
2010 edition
incorporating further
2010 am
endm
ents
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O N L I N E V E R S I O N
O N L I N E V E R S I O NO N L I N E V E R S I O NO N L I N E V E R S I O N

MAIN ChANgES IN ThE
2010 EDITION
1. This Approved Document L1A came into force
on 1 October 2010 in support of the Building
and Approved Inspectors (Amendment)
Regulations 2010, SI 2010 No. 719. The main
changes to the legal requirements and the
supporting guidance since the issue of the
previous Approved Document L1A are
as follows:
Changes in the legal requirements
2. The exemption from the energy efficiency
provisions for extensions consisting of a
conservatory or porch is amended to grant
the exemption only where the existing walls,
windows or doors are retained, or replaced if
removed, and where the heating system of
the building is not extended into the
conservatory or porch.
3. A new requirement is introduced, where
regulation 26 applies, for CO2
emission rate
calculations to be carried out and given to
the Building Control Body, along with a list of
specifications used in the calculations before
the start of building work on the erection of a
new building. This is in addition to the CO2
emission rate calculation required to be
submitted after completion of the work.
Changes in the technical guidance
4. The annual CO2
emission rate of the completed
dwelling is now calculated using SAP2009
and must not exceed the target set by
reference to a notional dwelling with an
additional overall improvement of 25%
relative to 2006 standards.
5. The notional dwelling now includes a party
wall heat loss of zero, meaning that the
targeted improvement of 25% is in addition
to treating party walls between connected
dwellings against heat loss.
6. Secondary heating is counted as part of the
annual CO2
emission rate of the completed
dwelling only when actually provided for and
credit is allowed wherever low-energy lighting
is installed.
7. Some of the reasonable limits for building
fabric and services performance specifications
are strengthened.
8. Revised guidance is provided for avoiding
thermal bridging at construction joints
including the option of adopting a quality-
assured accredited construction details
scheme approach.
Details of approval of such schemes to be
confirmed at www.communities.gov.uk
9. New provisions and guidance are introduced
to limit heat loss from a swimming pool
basin where this is constructed as part of
a new dwelling.
10. Appendix A contains guidance for presenting
the evidence that demonstrates compliance
with the energy efficiency requirements and
highlighting key features that are critical in
achieving the annual CO2
emission rate target.
Main changes made by the
2010 amendments
This 2010 edition, incorporating further 2010
amendments, reflects the changes made as
a result of the Building Regulations 2010 and
Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations
2010. The changes mainly reflect regulation
number changes as a result of re-ordering. There
have been no amendments to the substantive
requirements in Schedule 1 (i.e. Parts A to P)
of the Building Regulations. Please note the
simplification of the definition of ‘room for
residential purposes’ in regulation 2 of the
Building Regulations 2010. Please also note that
L1(c) has now become regulation 40.
APPROVED DOCUMENTS
The following documents have been approved
and issued by the First Secretary of State for the
purpose of providing practical guidance with
respect to the requirements of the Building
Regulations 2010.
Approved Document A: Structure
2004 edition incorporating 2010 amendments
Approved Document B (Fire safety) – Volume
1: Dwellinghouses
Approved Document B (Fire safety) – Volume
2: Buildings other than dwellinghouses
2006 edition incorporating 2007 and 2010
amendments
Approved Document C: Site preparation and
resistance to contaminants and moisture
Approved Document D: Toxic substances
amendments
Approved Document E: Resistance to the
passage of sound
amendments
Approved Document F: Ventilation
2010 edition incorporating further 2010 amendments
Approved Document g: Sanitation, hot water
safety and water efficiency
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
amendments
Approved Document L1A: Conservation of
fuel and power – New dwellings
Approved Document L1B: Conservation of
fuel and power – Existing dwellings
2010 edition incorporating further 2010 and 2011
amendments
Approved Document L2A: Conservation of
fuel and power – New buildings other than
dwellings
Approved Document L2B: Conservation of
fuel and power – Existing buildings other than
dwellings
2010 edition incorporating further 2010 and 2011
amendments
Approved Document M: Access to and use of
buildings
Approved Document N: glazing – safety in
relation to impact, opening and cleaning
amendments
Approved Document P: Electrical safety –
Dwellings
Approved Document to support regulation 7:
Materials and workmanship

1
Approved Document L1A Conservation of fuel and power
PAGE
Section 1: Introduction 2
What is an Approved Document? 2
Consideration of technical risk 2
How to use this Approved Document 2
Where you can get further help 3
Responsibility for compliance 3
Section 2: The Requirements 4
LImITaTIon on RequIRemenTS 6
Section 3: General guidance 7
Key terms 7
Types of work covered by this
Approved Document 8
Buildings that are exempt from the
energy efficiency requirements 8
Notification of work covered by the
energy efficiency requirements 8
Materials and workmanship 9
The Workplace (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1992 9
Demonstrating compliance 10
Section 4: Design standards 11
ReGuLaTIonS 24 anD 25 11
Target CO2
emission rate (TER) 11
Buildings containing multiple dwellings 12
CRITeRIon 1 – aCHIeVInG THe TeR 12
Calculating the CO2
emissions from the
actual dwelling 12
CO2
emission rate calculations 13
Secondary heating 13
Internal lighting 14
Buildings containing multiple dwellings 14
Achieving the target 14
CRITeRIon 2 – LImITS on DeSIGn
FLeXIBILITY 14
Fabric standards 15
System efficiencies 15
CRITeRIon 3 – LImITInG THe eFFeCTS
oF SoLaR GaInS In SummeR 16
PAGE
Section 5: quality of construction and
commissioning 17
CRITeRIon 4 – BuILDInG PeRFoRmanCe
ConSISTenT WITH DeR 17
Party walls and other thermal bypasses 17
Thermal bridges 18
Air permeability and pressure testing 19
Alternative to pressure testing on
small developments 20
CommISSIonInG oF HeaTInG anD
HoT WaTeR SYSTemS 20
Section 6: Providing information 21
CRITeRIon 5 – PRoVISIonS FoR
eneRGY-eFFICIenT oPeRaTIon
oF THe DWeLLInG 21
Section 7: model designs 22
appendix a: Reporting evidence
of compliance 23
appendix B: Documents referred to 24
appendix C: Standards referred to 25
Index 26
Contents
L1aO N L I N E V E R S I O N

Section 1: Introduction
What is an approved Document?
1.1 This Approved Document, which takes
effect on 1 October 2010, has been approved
and issued by the Secretary of State to provide
practical guidance on ways of complying with the
energy efficiency requirements (see Section 2)
and regulation 7 of the Building Regulations 2010
(SI 2010/2214) for England and Wales. Regulation
2(1) of the Building Regulations defines the
energy efficiency requirements as the
requirements of regulations 23, 26, 28, 29, 40
and Part L of Schedule 1. The Building Regulations
2010 are referred to throughout the remainder of
this document as ‘the Building Regulations’.
1.2 The intention of issuing Approved Documents
is to provide guidance about compliance with
specific aspects of building regulations in some
of the more common building situations. They
set out what, in ordinary circumstances, may be
accepted as reasonable provision for compliance
with the relevant requirement(s) of building
regulations to which they refer.
1.3 If guidance in an Approved Document is
followed there will be a presumption of compliance
with the requirement(s) covered by the guidance.
However, this presumption can be overturned,
so simply following guidance does not guarantee
compliance; for example, if the particular case
is unusual in some way, then ‘normal’ guidance
may not be applicable. It is also important to note
that there may well be other ways of achieving
compliance with the requirements. There is
therefore no obligation to adopt any particular
solution contained in this approved Document
if you would prefer to meet the relevant
requirement in some other way. Persons
intending to carry out building work should
always check with their building control body,
either the local authority or an approved
inspector, that their proposals comply with
building regulations.
1.4 It is important to note that this Approved
Document, as well as containing guidance, also
contains extracts from the Regulations. Such
regulatory text must be complied with as stated.
For example, the requirement that the target
carbon dioxide (CO2
) emission rate for the
building shall not be exceeded (regulation 26)
is a regulatory requirement. There is therefore no
flexibility to ignore this requirement; neither can
compliance with this particular regulation be
demonstrated via any route other than that set
out in regulations 24 and 25.
1.5 The guidance contained in this Approved
Document relates only to the particular requirements
of the Building Regulations that the document
addresses (set out in Section 2). However, building
work may be subject to more than one requirement
of building regulations. In such cases the work
will also have to comply with any other applicable
requirements of building regulations.
1.6 There are Approved Documents that give
guidance on each of the parts of Schedule 1 and
on regulation 7. A full list of these is provided at
the back of this document.
Consideration of technical risk
1.7 In relation to the construction of new
dwellings, building work must satisfy all the
technical requirements set out in regulation 26
of, and Schedule 1 to, the Building Regulations.
When considering the incorporation of energy
efficiency measures in dwellings, attention should
also be paid in particular to the need to comply
with Part B (fire safety), Part C (site preparation
and resistance to contaminants and moisture),
Part E (resistance to the passage of sound), Part
F (ventilation), paragraph G3 (hot water supply
and systems), Part J (combustion appliances
and fuel storage systems) and Part P (electrical
safety) of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations,
as well as Part L. The adoption of any particular
energy efficiency measure should not involve
unacceptable technical risk of, for instance,
excessive condensation. Designers and builders
should refer to the relevant Approved Documents
and to other generally available good practice
guidance to help minimise these risks.
How to use this approved Document
1.8 This Approved Document is subdivided
into seven sections as detailed below. These
main sections are followed by supporting
appendices.
This introductory section sets out the general
context in which the guidance in the Approved
Document must be considered.
Section 2 sets out the relevant legal requirements
contained in the Building Regulations.
Section 3 contains general guidance, including
the definition of key terms, the types of building
work covered by this Approved Document, the
types of building work that are exempt, procedures
for notifying work, materials and workmanship
and health and safety issues, an overview of the
routes to compliance and how to deal with ‘special’
areas of buildings that contain dwellings.
Section 4 details the considerations that apply
to demonstrating that the design of the dwelling
will meet the energy efficiency requirements.
This section begins the detailed technical guidance
relating to showing compliance with the energy
efficiency requirements.
Section 5 details the considerations that apply
when demonstrating that the design has been
appropriately translated into actual construction
performance.
Section 6 describes the information that should
be provided to occupiers to help them achieve
reasonable standards of energy efficiency in
practice.
L1a
2
Conservation of fuel and power Approved Document L1A

3
INTRODUCTION L1a
Section 7 provides a pointer to some useful
information on different design approaches to
meeting the energy efficiency requirements.
1.9 In this document the following conventions
have been adopted to assist understanding and
interpretation:
a. Texts shown against a green background are
extracts from the Building Regulations or
Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations
2010 (SI 2010/2214) (‘the Approved Inspectors
Regulations’), and set out the legal requirements
that relate to compliance with the energy
efficiency requirements of building regulations.
As stated previously, there is no flexibility in
respect of such text; it defines a legal
requirement, not guidance for typical situations.
It should also be remembered that, as noted
above, building works must comply with all the
other applicable provisions of building
regulations.
b. Key terms are defined in paragraph 3.1 and
are printed in bold italic text.
c. Details of technical publications referred to
in the text of this Approved Document will be
given in footnotes and repeated as references
at the end of the document. A reference to a
publication is likely to be made for one of two
main reasons. The publication may contain
additional or more comprehensive technical
detail, which it would be impractical to include
in full in the Approved Document but which is
needed to fully explain ways of meeting the
requirements; or it is a source of more general
information. The reason for the reference will
be indicated in each case. The reference will be
to a specified edition of the document. The
Approved Document may be amended from time
to time to include new references or to refer to
revised editions where this aids compliance.
d. Additional commentary in italic text appears
after some numbered paragraphs. This
commentary is intended to assist understanding
of the immediately preceding paragraph
or sub-paragraph, or to direct readers to
sources of additional information, but is
not part of the technical guidance itself.
Where you can get further help
1.10 If you do not understand the technical
guidance or other information set out in this
Approved Document and the additional detailed
technical references to which it directs you, there
are a number of routes through which you can
seek further assistance:
• the Department for Communities and
Local Government website:
www.communities.gov.uk;
• the Planning Portal website:
www.planningportal.gov.uk;
• if you are the person undertaking the building
work you can seek assistance either from
your local authority building control service or
from your approved inspector (depending on
which building control service you are using);
• persons registered with a competent person
self-certification scheme may be able to get
technical advice from their scheme operator;
• if your query is of a highly technical nature you
may wish to seek the advice of a specialist, or
industry technical body, for the relevant subject.
Responsibility for compliance
1.11 It is important to remember that if you are
the person (e.g. designer, builder, installer) carrying
out building work to which any requirement of
building regulations applies you have a
responsibility to ensure that the work complies
with any such requirement. The building owner
may also have a responsibility for ensuring
compliance with building regulation requirements
and could be served with an enforcement notice
in cases of non-compliance.

4
2.1 This Approved Document, which takes
effect on 1 October 2010, deals with the energy
efficiency requirements in the Building
Regulations 2010. Regulation 2(1) of the Building
Regulations defines the energy efficiency
requirements as the requirements of regulations
23, 26, 28 and 29 and Part L of Schedule 1. The
energy efficiency requirements relevant to this
Approved Document, which deals with new
dwellings, are those in regulations 26, 29, 40
and Part L of Schedule 1, and are set out below.
New buildings – Regulation 26
Where a building is erected, it shall not exceed the target CO2
emission rate for the building that has been approved pursuant
to regulation 25.
Energy performance certificates – Regulation 29
(1) This regulation applies where—
(a) a building is erected; or
(b) a building is modified so that it has a greater or fewer
number of parts designed or altered for separate use than it
previously had, where the modification includes the provision
or extension of any of the fixed services for heating, hot water,
air conditioning or mechanical ventilation.
(2) The person carrying out the work shall—
(a) give an energy performance certificate for the building
to the owner of the building; and
(b) give to the local authority notice to that effect,
including the reference number under which the energy
performance certificate has been registered in accordance with
regulation 30(4).
(3) The energy performance certificate and notice shall be
given not later than five days after the work has been completed.
(4) An energy performance certificate must—
(a) express the asset rating of the building in a way
approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 24;
(b) include a reference value such as a current legal
standard or benchmark;
(c) be issued by an energy assessor who is accredited to
produce energy performance certificates for that category of
building; and
(5) The energy performance certificate must be accompanied
by a recommendation report containing recommendations for
the improvement of the energy performance of the building,
issued by the energy assessor who issued the energy
performance certificate.
L1a
Section 2: The Requirements

5
THE REQUIREMENTS L1a
Energy performance certificates – Regulation 29 (continued)
(d) include the following information—
(i) the reference number under which the certificate
has been registered in accordance with regulation 30(4);
(ii) the address of the building;
(iii) an estimate of the total useful floor area of the
building;
(iv) the name of the energy assessor who issued it;
(v) the name and address of the energy assessor’s
employer, or, if he is self-employed, the name under which he
trades and his address;
(vi) the date on which it was issued; and
(vii) the name of the approved accreditation scheme of
which the energy assessor is a member.
(6) Certification for apartments or units designed or altered
for separate use in blocks may be based—
(a) except in the case of a dwelling, on a common
certification of the whole building for blocks with a common
heating system; or
(b) on the assessment of another representative apartment
or unit in the same block.
(7) Where —
(a) a block with a common heating system is divided into
parts designed or altered for separate use; and
(b) one or more, but not all, of the parts are dwellings,
certification for those parts which are not dwellings may be
based on a common certification of all the parts which are not
dwellings.
Requirement Limits on application
Schedule 1 – Part L Conservation of fuel and power
L1. Reasonable provision shall be made for the conservation of
fuel and power in buildings by:
(a) limiting heat gains and losses—
(i) through thermal elements and other parts of the
building fabric; and
(ii) from pipes, ducts and vessels used for space
heating, space cooling and hot water services;
(b) providing fixed building services which—
(i) are energy efficient;
(ii) have effective controls; and
(iii) arecommissionedbytestingandadjustingasnecessary
to ensure they use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in
the circumstances; and
Regulation 40 providing to the owner sufficient information
about the building, the fixed building services and their
maintenance requirements so that the building can be operated
in such a manner as to use no more fuel and power than is
reasonable in the circumstances.
O N L I N E V E R S I O NTHE REQUIREMENTSO N L I N E V E R S I O NTHE REQUIREMENTS

6
LImITaTIon on RequIRemenTS
2.2 In accordance with regulation 8 of the
Building Regulations, the requirements in Parts A
to D, F to K and N and P (except for paragraphs
G2, H2 and J7) of Schedule 1 to the Building
Regulations do not require anything to be done
except for the purpose of securing reasonable
standards of health and safety for persons in
or about buildings (and any others who may
be affected by buildings or matters connected
with buildings).
2.3 Paragraph G2 is excluded as it deals with
water efficiency and paragraphs H2 and J7 are
excluded from regulation 8 because they deal
directly with prevention of the contamination of
water. Parts E and M (which deal, respectively,
with resistance to the passage of sound and
access to and use of buildings) are excluded from
regulation 8 because they address the welfare
and convenience of building users. Part L is
excluded from regulation 8 because it addresses
the conservation of fuel and power.
L1a THE REQUIREMENTSO N L I N E V E R S I O NTHE REQUIREMENTSO N L I N E V E R S I O NTHE REQUIREMENTS

7
L1a
Key terms
3.1 The following are key terms used in this
document:
Air permeability is the physical property used
to measure airtightness of the building fabric.
It is defined as air leakage rate per hour per
square metre of envelope area at a test reference
pressure differential across the building envelope
of 50 Pascal (50 N/m2
). The envelope area of the
building, or measured part of the building, is the
total area of all floors, walls and ceilings bordering
the internal volume subject to the test. This
includes walls and floors below external ground
level. Overall internal dimensions are used to
calculate this area and no subtractions are made
for the area of the junctions of internal walls,
floors and ceilings with exterior walls, floors and
ceilings. The limiting air permeability is the
worst allowable air permeability. The design air
permeability is the target value set at the design
stage, and must always be no worse than the
limiting value. The assessed air permeability is
the value used in establishing the DER, and is
based on a specific measurement of the dwelling
concerned, or on measurements of other
dwellings of the same dwelling type.
The envelope area of a terraced house includes
the party wall(s). The envelope area of a flat in a
multiple storey building includes the floors, walls
and ceilings which are shared with adjacent flats.
BCB means Building Control Body: a local
authority or an approved inspector.
Commissioning means the advancement of
a fixed building service following installation,
replacement or alteration of the whole or part
of the system, from the state of static completion
to working order by testing and adjusting as
necessary to ensure that the system as a whole
uses no more fuel and power than is reasonable in
the circumstances, without prejudice to the need
to comply with health and safety requirements.
For each system commissioning includes
setting-to-work, regulation (that is testing and
adjusting repetitively) to achieve the specified
performance, the calibration, setting up and
testing of the associated automatic control
systems, and recording of the system settings
and the performance test results that have been
accepted as satisfactory.
Controlled service or fitting means a service or
fitting in relation to which Part G (sanitation, hot
water safety and water efficiency), H (drainage
and waste disposal), J (combustion appliances
and fuel storage systems), L (conservation of fuel
and power) or P (electrical safety) of Schedule 1
to the Building Regulations imposes a requirement.
DER is the Dwelling CO2
Emission Rate expressed
as kgCO2
/(m2
.year).
Dwelling means a self-contained unit designed
to accommodate a single household. Buildings
exclusively containing rooms for residential
purposes such as nursing homes, student
accommodation and similar are not dwellings,
and in such cases, Approved Document L2A
applies.
Dwelling type is a means of allocating each
dwelling on a development to a particular group
to provide the basis for assessing the pressure
testing regime. The allocation of each dwelling
to a dwelling type should be the responsibility of
the person carrying out the pressure testing. To be
classed as of the same type dwellings have to:
i. be of the same generic form (i.e. detached,
semi-detached, end terrace, mid-terrace,
ground-floor flat (inc. ground-floor maisonette),
mid-floor flat, top-floor flat (inc. top-floor
maisonette);
ii. be of the same number of storeys;
iii. be of the same design air permeability;
iv. have similar adjacency to unheated spaces
such as stairwells, integral garages, etc.
v. have the same principal construction details
(as identified by the Accredited Construction
Details (ACD) or bespoke detail reference codes);
vi. have a similar (i.e. ±1) number of significant
penetrations, i.e. for windows, doors, flues/
chimneys, supply/exhaust terminals, waste
water pipes;
vii. have envelope areas that do not differ by more
than 10 per cent (see air permeability for a
definition of envelope area).
Energy efficiency requirements means the
requirements of regulations 23, 26, 28, 29 and
40 of, and Part L of Schedule 1 to, the Building
Regulations.
Fixed building services means any part of, or
any controls associated with:
a. fixed internal or external lighting systems, but
does not include emergency escape lighting
or specialist process lighting; or
b. fixed systems for heating, hot water, air-
conditioning or mechanical ventilation.
Room for residential purposes means a room,
or a suite of rooms, which is not a dwelling-
house or a flat and which is used by one or more
persons to live and sleep in and includes
a room in a hostel, a hotel, a boarding house, a
hall of residence or a residential home, but does
not include a room in a hospital, or other similar
establishment, used for patient accommodation.
Section 3: General guidance

8
TER is the Target CO2
Emission Rate expressed
as kgCO2
/(m2
.year) (see paragraphs 4.2 to 4.6).
Types of work covered by this
approved Document
3.2 This Approved Document is intended to
give guidance on what, in ordinary circumstances,
may be considered reasonable provision for
compliance with the requirements of regulation
26 and 40 of, and Part L of Schedule 1 to, the
Building Regulations for those creating new
dwellings. In addition it gives guidance on
compliance with regulations 43, 44 and 27 of the
Building Regulations and 20(1), (4) and (6) of the
Approved Inspectors Regulations.
Live-work units
3.3 If a unit contains both living accommodation
and space to be used for commercial purposes
(e.g. workshop or office), the whole unit should be
treated as a dwelling as long as the commercial
part could revert to domestic use. This could be
the case if, for example:
a. there is direct access between the commercial
space and the living accommodation; and
b. both are contained within the same thermal
envelope; and
c. the living accommodation occupies a substantial
proportion of the total area of the unit.
Sub-paragraph c means that the presence of (e.g.)
a small manager’s flat in a large non-domestic
building would not result in the whole building
being treated as a dwelling. Similarly, the
existence of a room used as an office or utility
space within a dwelling would not mean that the
building should not be treated as a dwelling.
mixed-use developments
3.4 When constructing a dwelling as part
of a larger building that contains other types of
accommodation, sometimes called a mixed-use
development, this Approved Document L1A
should be used for guidance in relation to each
individual dwelling. Approved Document L2A
gives guidance relating to the non-dwelling parts
of such buildings such as heated common areas,
and in the case of mixed-use developments, the
commercial or retail space.
material changes of use
3.5 The erection of a new dwelling is not a
material change of use. Approved Document L1B
applies where a dwelling is being created in an
existing building as the result of a material
change of use of all or part of the building.
Buildings that are exempt from
the energy efficiency requirements
3.6 No new dwellings are exempt from the
energy efficiency requirements of the Building
Regulations.
notification of work covered by
the energy efficiency requirements
3.7 In all cases where it is proposed to erect
a new dwelling building regulations require the
person proposing to carry out the work to notify
a BCB in advance of any work starting. This
notification would usually be by way of full plans
(or possibly a building notice) given to a local
authority, or an initial notice given jointly with
the approved inspector. However, some elements
of the work may not need to be notified to a
BCB in advance, as set out in paragraphs 3.8
to 3.11 below.
Competent person self-certification schemes
3.8 It is not necessary to notify a BCB in
advance of work which is to be carried out by a
person registered with a relevant competent person
self-certification scheme listed in Schedule 3 to
the Building Regulations. In order to join such a
scheme a person must demonstrate competence
to carry out the type of work the scheme covers,
and also the ability to comply with all relevant
requirements in the Building Regulations.
3.9 Where work is carried out by a person
registered with a competent person scheme,
regulation 20 of the Building Regulations 2010
and regulation 20(1) of the Building (Approved
Inspectors etc) Regulations 2010 require that the
occupier of the building be given, within 30 days
of the completion of the work, a certificate
confirming that the work complies fully with all
applicable building regulation requirements.
There is also a requirement to give the BCB a
notice of the work carried out, again within 30 days
of the completion of the work. These certificates
and notices are usually made available through
the scheme operator.
3.10 BCBs are authorised to accept these
certificates and notices as evidence of compliance
with the requirements of the Building Regulations.
Local authority inspection and enforcement
powers remain unaffected, although they are
normally used only in response to a complaint
that work does not comply.
3.11 There are no competent person schemes
which cover all aspects of the construction of a
new dwelling. There are, however, schemes which
cover the electrical and plumbing installation
work and the installation of certain fixed building
services (heating, hot water, air-conditioning,
mechanical ventilation).
3.12 A list of competent person self-
certification schemes and the types of work
for which they are authorised can be found at
www.communities.gov.uk
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9
GENERAL GUIDANCE L1a
materials and workmanship
3.13 Any building work which is subject to
the requirements imposed by Schedule 1 to the
Building Regulations should, in accordance with
regulation 7, be carried out with proper materials
and in a workmanlike manner.
3.14 You may show that you have complied
with regulation 7 in a number of ways. These
include demonstrating the appropriate use of:
• a product bearing CE marking in accordance
with the Construction Products Directive
(89/106/EEC)1
, as amended by the CE
Marking Directive (93/68/EC)2
, the Low
Voltage Directive (2006/95/EC)3
and the
EMC Directive (2004/108/EC)4
;
• a product complying with an appropriate
technical specification (as defined in those
Directives mentioned above), a British
Standard, or an alternative national technical
specification of a Member State of the
European Union or Turkey5
, or of another
State signatory to the Agreement on the
European Economic Area (EEA) that provides
an equivalent level of safety and protection;
• a product covered by a national or European
certificate issued by a European Technical
Approval Issuing body, provided the conditions
of use are in accordance with the terms of
the certificate.
3.15 You will find further guidance in the
Approved Document which specifically supports
regulation 7 on materials and workmanship.
Independent certification schemes
3.16 There are many UK product certification
schemes. Such schemes certify compliance with
the requirements of a recognised standard that is
appropriate to the purpose for which the material
is to be used. Materials which are not so certified
may still conform to a relevant standard.
3.17 Many certification bodies that approve
products under such schemes are accredited by
the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
Such bodies can issue certificates only for the
categories of product covered under the terms
of their accreditation.
3.18 BCBs may take into account the certification
of products, components, materials or structures
under such schemes as evidence of compliance
with the relevant standard. Similarly, BCBs may
accept the certification of the installation or
maintenance of products, components, materials
or structures under such schemes as evidence of
1
As implemented by the Construction Products Regulations 1991
(SI 1991/1620).
2
As implemented by the Construction Products (Amendment) Regulations
1994 (SI 1994/3051).
3
As implemented by the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994
(SI 1994/3260).
4
As implemented by the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2006
(SI 2006/3418).
5
Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association Council of 22 December 1995.
compliance with the relevant standard. Nonetheless,
before accepting that certification constitutes
compliance with building regulations, a BCB
should establish in advance that the relevant
scheme is adequate for that purpose.
Standards and technical specifications
3.19 Building regulations are made for specific
purposes, including securing the health, safety,
welfare and convenience of people in or about
buildings; furthering the conservation of fuel and
power; furthering the protection or enhancement
of the environment; and facilitating sustainable
development. Guidance contained in standards
and technical approvals referred to in Approved
Documents may be relevant to compliance with
building regulations to the extent that it relates to
those purposes. However, it should be noted that
guidance in standards and technical approvals
may also address other aspects of performance
such as serviceability, or aspects which, although
they relate to health and safety, are not covered
by building regulations.
3.20 When an Approved Document makes
reference to a named standard or document,
the relevant version of the standard or document
is the one listed at the end of the Approved
Document. Until the reference in the Approved
Document is revised, the standard or document
listed remains the approved source, but if the
issuing body has published a revised or updated
version, any content that addresses the relevant
requirements of the Building Regulations may be
used as a source of guidance.
3.21 The appropriate use of a product in
compliance with a European Technical Approval
as defined in the Construction Products Directive
will meet the relevant requirements.
3.22 The Department for Communities and Local
Government intends to issue periodic amendments
to its Approved Documents to reflect emerging
harmonised European standards. Where
a national standard is to be replaced by a
European harmonised standard, there will be a
coexistence period during which either standard
may be referred to. At the end of the coexistence
period the national standard will be withdrawn.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1992
3.23 The Workplace (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1992, as amended, apply to
the common parts of flats and similar buildings if
people such as cleaners, wardens and caretakers
are employed to work in these common parts.
These Regulations contain some requirements
which affect building design. The main requirements
are now covered by the Building Regulations,
but for further information see Workplace health,
safety and welfare, Workplace (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1992, Approved Code of
Practice and guidance, HSE publication L24,
HMSO, 1996.
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10
Demonstrating compliance
3.24 In the Secretary of State’s view, compliance
with the energy efficiency requirements could
be demonstrated by meeting all five criteria set
out in the following paragraphs. It is expected
that software implementations of SAP 2009 will
produce an output report that will assist BCBs
to check that compliance has been achieved.
The output report can benefit both developers
and BCBs during the design and construction
stages as well as at completion.
3.25 Criterion 1: in accordance with regulation
26, the calculated rate of CO2
emissions from the
dwelling (the Dwelling Emission Rate, DER) must
not be greater than the Target Emission Rate
(TER), which is determined by following the
procedure set out in paragraphs 4.7 to 4.17.
Criterion 1 is a regulation and is therefore mandatory,
whereas Criteria 2 to 5 are only guidance. The
calculations required as part of the procedure
used to show compliance with this criterion can
also provide information needed to prepare the
Energy Performance Certificate required by
regulation 29 of the Building Regulations and by
the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates
and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations
2007 (SI 2007/991) as amended.
3.26 Criterion 2: the performance of the
building fabric and the fixed building services
should achieve reasonable overall standards of
energy efficiency following the procedure set out
in paragraphs 4.18 to 4.24.
This is intended to place limits on design flexibility
to discourage excessive and inappropriate
trade-offs – e.g. buildings with poor insulation
standards offset by renewable energy systems
with uncertain service lives. This emphasises the
purpose of Criterion 2.
3.27 Criterion 3: the dwelling should have
appropriate passive control measures to limit
the effect of solar gains on indoor temperatures
in summer, irrespective of whether or not the
dwelling has mechanical cooling. The guidance
given in paragraphs 4.25 to 4.27 of this Approved
Document provides a way of demonstrating that
reasonable provision has been made.
The aim is to counter excessive internal temperature
rise in summer to reduce or eliminate the need
for air conditioners. Criterion 3 should be satisfied
even if the dwelling is air conditioned.
3.28 Criterion 4: the performance of the
dwelling, as built, should be consistent with the
DER. The guidance in Section 5 should be used
to demonstrate that this criterion has been met.
Extra credits will be given in the TER/DER
calculation where builders provide robust
evidence of quality-assured procedures in the
design and construction phases.
3.29 Criterion 5: the necessary provisions for
energy efficient operation of the dwelling should
be put in place. One way to achieve this would
be by following the guidance in Section 6.
‘Special areas’ related to dwellings
3.30 The following paragraphs describe some
‘special areas’ that fall outside the normal five
criteria, and give guidance on how reasonable
provision for the conservation of fuel and power
can be demonstrated.
Common areas in buildings with multiple
dwellings
3.31 The common areas of buildings containing
more than one dwelling are not classified as
dwellings, and therefore fall outside the scope
of the five criteria outlined above. For such areas,
reasonable provision would be:
a. if they are heated, to follow the guidance in
Approved Document L2A; or
b. if they are unheated, to provide fabric
elements that meet the fabric standards set
out in paragraphs 4.20 to 4.22.
Conservatories and porches
3.32 Where conservatories and porches are
installed at the same time as the construction of
a new dwelling, the guidance in this document
applies. For conservatories and porches added
as extensions to a dwelling, see guidance in
Approved Document L1B.
Swimming pool basins
3.33 Where a swimming pool is constructed as
part of a new dwelling, reasonable provision should
be made to limit heat loss from the pool basin by
achieving a U-value no worse than 0.25 W/m2
.K
as calculated according to BS EN ISO 133706
.
3.34 In terms of Criterion 1, the dwelling
should be assessed as if the pool basin were not
there, although the pool hall should be included.
The area covered by the pool should be replaced
with the equivalent area of floor with the same
U-value as the pool surround.
6
BS EN ISO 13370 Thermal performance of buildings. Heat transfer via
the ground. Calculation methods.
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11
L1a
Section 4: Design standards
ReGuLaTIonS 24 anD 25
4.1 Regulations 24, 25 and 26 of the Building
Regulations implement Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
Regulations 24 and 25 state that:
methodology of calculation and
expression of energy performance
24.–(1) The Secretary of State shall approve–
a. a methodology of calculation of the energy
performance of buildings, including methods
for calculating asset ratings and operational
ratings of buildings; and
b. ways in which the energy performance of
buildings, as calculated in accordance with
the methodology, shall be expressed.
(2) In this regulation–
‘asset rating’ means a numerical indicator of the
amount of energy estimated to meet the different
needs associated with a standardised use of the
building; and
‘operational rating’ means a numerical indicator
of the amount of energy consumed during the
occupation of the building over a period of time.
minimum energy performance
requirements for buildings
25.–The Secretary of State shall approve
minimum energy performance requirements for
new buildings, in the form of target CO2
emission
rates, which shall be based upon the methodology
approved pursuant to regulation 24.
Target Co2 emission Rate (TER)
4.2 The Target CO2
Emission Rate (TER) is the
minimum energy performance requirement for a
new dwelling approved by the Secretary of State
in accordance with regulation 25. It is expressed
in terms of the mass of CO2
, in units of kg per m2
of floor area per year, emitted as a result of the
provision of the specified fixed building services
for a standardised household when assessed
using approved calculation tools.
4.3 In accordance with the methodology
approved by the Secretary of State in the Notice
of Approval7
, the TER for individual dwellings
must be calculated using SAP 2009.
4.4 The TER is calculated in two stages:
a. First calculate the CO2
emissions from a 2002
notional dwelling of the same size and shape
as the actual dwelling and which is constructed
according to the reference values set out in
Appendix R of SAP 2009. No values may be
7
Notice of Approval of the methodology of calculation of the energy
performance of buildings in England and Wales.
varied from these reference values when
establishing the TER. The calculation tool will
report the CO2
emissions (based on SAP2005
CO2
emission factors) arising from:
i. The provision of space heating and hot
water (which includes the energy used by
pumps and fans), CH
ii. The use of internal lighting, CL
b. Secondly, calculate the 2010 TER using the
following formula:
TER2010
 (CH
 FF  EFAH
 CL
 EFAL
) 
(1  0.2)  (1  0.25)
Where FF is the fuel factor8
taken from Table 1 in
accordance with the guidance in paragraph 4.5.
Where EFA is the Emission Factor Adjustment
with separate values for heating and lighting. EFA
is the ratio of the CO2
emission factor for the
relevant fuel at 2010 divided by the value used in
the 2006 edition of Part L (see table 12 of SAP
2009 and table 12 of SAP 2005 for the relevant
values). For those fuels with a fuel factor of 1.0,
the EFA should always be based upon mains gas.
Note that the notional dwelling used to determine
CH
has a party wall heat loss of zero. This means
that the targeted improvement of 25 per cent is in
addition to treating the party wall loss (see
paragraphs 5.3 to 5.8).
4.5 The fuel to be used for determining the
fuel factor from Table 1 is one of those used to
provide heating and hot water to the actual
dwelling as follows:
a. Where all the space heating and domestic hot
water heating appliances are served by the
same fuel, the fuel used in those appliances.
b. Where the dwelling has more than one
appliance for space heating and/or domestic
hot water and these are served by different fuels,
i. mains gas if any of the appliances are
fired by mains gas,
ii. otherwise the fuel used for the main
space heating system.
c. Where the dwelling is served by a community
heating scheme,
i. mains gas if the community scheme used
mains gas for any purpose,
ii. otherwise the fuel that provides the most
heat for the community scheme.
8
The fuel factor is the greater of 1.0 and the square root of the ratio of
the CO2
emission factor for the fuel to the emission factor for mains gas
(both taken from table 12 of SAP 2005) rounded to two decimal places.

12
L1a DESIGN STANDARDS
Table 1 Fuel factor
Heating fuel Fuel factor1
Mains gas 1.00
LPG 1.10
Oil 1.17
B30K 1.00
Grid electricity for direct acting and storage systems 1.47
Grid electricity for heat pumps2
1.47
Solid mineral fuel3
1.28
Any fuel with a CO2
emission factor less than that of mains gas 1.00
Solid multi-fuel3
1.00
notes:
1. The fuel factors in Table 1 will be kept under review as progress is made towards the zero carbon target.
2. The fuel factor for electric heat pumps will be reviewed after the renewable heat incentive is introduced.
3. The specific fuel factor should be used for those appliances that can only burn the particular fuel. Where an appliance is classed as multi-fuel, the
multi-fuel factor should be used except where the dwelling is in a Smoke Control Area. In such cases the solid mineral fuel figure should be used,
unless the specific appliance type has been approved for use within Smoke Control Areas.
Buildings containing
multiple dwellings
4.6 Where a building contains more than one
dwelling (such as in a terrace of houses or in a
block of flats), an average TER can be calculated
for all the dwellings in the building. In such
cases, the average TER is the floor-area-
weighted average of all the individual TERs, and
is calculated according to the following formula:
{(TER1
 Floor area1
)  (TER2
 Floor area2
)
 (TER3
 Floor area3
)  …)}
4 {(Floor area1
 Floor area2
 Floor area3
)  …}
Block averaging is only permitted for multiple
dwellings in the same building. It is not permitted
across multiple buildings on the same
development site.
CRITeRIon 1 –
aCHIeVInG THe TER
4.7 Regulation 26 states that:
new buildings – Regulation 26
Where a building is erected, it shall not exceed
the target CO2
emission rate for the building that
has been approved pursuant to regulation 25.
Calculating the Co2
emissions
from the actual dwelling
4.8 To comply with regulation 26, the DER
must be no worse than the TER calculated as
set out in paragraphs 4.2 to 4.6. The final DER
calculation produced in accordance with regulation
27 (see paragraph 4.11 below) must be based on
the building as constructed, incorporating:
a. any changes to the list of specifications that
have been made during construction; and
b. the assessed air permeability. The
assessed air permeability shall be
determined as follows:
i. where the dwelling has been pressure
tested, the assessed air permeability is
the measured air permeability;
ii. where the dwelling has not been tested,
the assessed air permeability is the
average test result obtained from other
dwellings of the same dwelling type on
the development increased by a margin
of +2.0 m3
/(h.m2
) at 50 Pa;
iii. on small developments (see paragraph
5.23), where the builder has opted to avoid
testing, the assessed air permeability is
the value of 15 m3
/(h.m2
) at 50 Pa.
Note that builders can test a greater proportion of
their dwellings and take credit for the increased
robustness of the data, compared to option ii),
where the assessed air permeability is taken as the
average of other test results plus a safety margin.
This margin has been taken as approximately one
standard deviation as derived from the analysis of
a large sample of data from post-2006 dwellings.
The outcome of this change is that the design air
permeability should be at most 8.0 m3
/(h.m2
) at
50 Pa, so that untested dwellings should achieve
an assessed air permeability less than the limiting
value of 10 m3
/(h.m2
) at 50 Pa. If the design is
aiming to achieve a low design air permeability,
then the margin added under paragraph ii will
have a significant impact on the calculated DER.
In such cases, the builder should consider testing
the dwelling so that the measured permeability
can be included in the calculation.
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13
DESIGN STANDARDS L1a
Co2 emission rate calculations
4.9 Regulation 279
states:
27.–(1) This regulation applies where a building is
erected and regulation 26 applies.
(2) Not later than the day before the work starts,
the person carrying out the work shall give the
local authority a notice which specifies–
a. the target CO2
emission rate for the building,
b. the calculated CO2
emission rate for the
building as designed, and
c. a list of specifications to which the building is
to be constructed.
(3) Not later than five days after the work has
been completed, the person carrying out the
work shall give the local authority–
a. a notice which specifies–
i. the target CO2
emission rate for the building,
ii. the calculated CO2
emission rate for the
building as constructed, and
iii. whether the building has been
constructed in accordance with the list of
specifications referred to in paragraph (2)
(c), and if not a list of any changes to
those specifications; or
b. a certificate of the sort referred to in
paragraph (4) accompanied by the
information referred to in sub-paragraph (a).
(4) A local authority is authorised to accept, as
evidence that the requirements of regulation 26
have been satisfied, a certificate to that effect by
an energy assessor who is accredited to produce
such certificates for that category of building.
(5) In this regulation, ‘specifications’ means
specifications used for the calculation of the CO2
emission rate.
Regulation 35 ‘energy assessor’ means an
individual who is a member of an accreditation
scheme approved by the Secretary of State in
accordance with regulation 30; and
Co2
emission rate calculation before
commencement of work
4.10 As required by regulations 26 and 27,
before the work starts, the builder shall carry out
a calculation that demonstrates that the DER of
the dwelling as-designed is not greater than the
TER. This design-based calculation shall be
provided to the BCB, along with a list of
specifications used in calculating the DER.
9
There is a similar regulation (Regulation 12D) in the Building (Approved
Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/2532) which applies when
an approved inspector is the BCB.
This design stage calculation and provision of a
list of specifications will assist the BCB to confirm
that what is being built aligns with the claimed
performance. As set out at Appendix A, it is
expected that software implementations of
SAP2009 will be used to produce the list of
specifications and highlight those features of the
design that are critical to achieving compliance.
These ‘key features’ can be used to prioritise the
risk-based inspection of the dwelling as part of
confirming compliance with Regulation 26. If a
provisional energy rating is calculated at this
stage and an interim recommendations report is
therefore available, the recommendations should
be reviewed by the developer to see if further
carbon mitigation measures might be
incorporated in a cost effective manner.
Co2
emission rate calculation after completion
4.11 After work has been completed, the
builder must notify the BCB of the TER and DER
and whether the building has been constructed in
accordance with the list of specifications
submitted to the BCB before work started. If
not, a list of any changes to the design-stage
list of specifications must be given to the BCB.
BCBs are authorised to accept, as evidence of
compliance, a certificate to this effect signed off
by a suitably accredited energy assessor.
It would be useful to provide additional
information to support the values used in the
DER calculation and the list of specifications.
For example, U-values might be determined from
a specific calculation, in which case the details
should be provided, or from an accredited
source, in which case a reference to that source
would be sufficient. For example, for a boiler,
the model reference and fuel type is sufficient
evidence to allow the claimed performance to
be checked against the SEDBUK (Seasonal
Efficiencies of Domestic Boilers in the UK)
database. It would also be useful if evidence was
provided that demonstrates that the dwelling as
designed satisfies the requirements of Criteria 2
and 3.
Secondary heating
4.12 A secondary heating appliance may meet
part of the space heat demand. When calculating
the DER, the fraction provided by the secondary
heating system must be as defined by SAP 2009
for the particular combination of main heating
system and secondary heating appliance. The
following secondary heating appliance must be
used when calculating the DER:
a. Where a secondary heating appliance is
fitted, the efficiency of the actual appliance
with its appropriate fuel must be used in the
calculation of the DER;
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14
b. Where a chimney or flue is provided but
no appliance is actually installed, then the
presence of the following appliances shall
be assumed when calculating the DER:
i. if a gas point is located adjacent to the
hearth, a decorative fuel effect gas fire
open to the chimney or flue with an
efficiency of 20 per cent;
ii. if there is no gas point, an open fire in
grate for burning multi-fuel with an
efficiency of 37 per cent, unless the
dwelling is in a smoke control area when
the fuel should be taken as smokeless
solid mineral fuel;
c. Otherwise it shall be assumed that the
secondary heating system has the same
efficiency as the main heating system and is
served by the same fuel, i.e. the equivalent
of having no secondary heating system.
Internal lighting
4.13 In all cases the DER shall be calculated
assuming the proportion of low-energy lamps as
actually installed in the fixed lighting locations.
This means that low-energy lighting provision is
tradable. The minimum amount that would be
reasonable provision in the actual building is
given in the Domestic Building Services
Compliance Guide.
Buildings containing
multiple dwellings
4.14 Where a building contains more than one
dwelling (such as in a terrace of houses or in a
block of flats), compliance with regulation 26 is
achieved if:
a. EITHER every individual dwelling has a DER
that is no greater than its corresponding TER;
b. OR the average DER is no greater than the
average TER. The average DER is the floor-
area-weighted average of all the individual
DERs, and is calculated in the same way as
the average TER. Block averaging is permitted
only across multiple dwellings in a single
building, NOT across multiple buildings on
a development site (see paragraph 4.6).
When adopting the average DER approach, it will
still be necessary to provide information for each
individual dwelling, as required by regulation 27.
achieving the target
4.15 Provided the dwelling satisfies the limits
on design flexibility as set out in Criterion 2, the
compliance procedure allows the designer full
flexibility to achieve the TER utilising fabric and
system measures and the integration of low and
zero carbon (LZC) technologies in whatever mix
is appropriate to the scheme. The approved
compliance tools include appropriate algorithms
that enable the designer to assess the role
LZC technologies (including local renewable
and low-carbon schemes driven by planning
requirements10
) can play in achieving the TER.
4.16 Where a dwelling is connected to a
community energy system, the same percentage
reduction in emissions should be attributed to
each connected dwelling, and the submission
should demonstrate that the capacity of the
community scheme is sufficient to provide the
percentage that is assumed.
4.17 In order to facilitate incorporation of
improvements in system efficiencies and the
integration with low and zero carbon
technologies, the designer should:
a. consider adopting heating system designs
that use low distribution temperatures; and
b. where multiple systems serve the same end
use, organise the control strategies such that
priority is given to the least carbon-intensive
option; and
For example, where a solar hot water system is
available, the controls should be arranged so that
the best use is made of the available solar energy.
c. consider making the dwelling easily adaptable
by facilitating the integration of additional low
and zero carbon technologies at a later date.
Providing appropriate facilities at the construction
stage can make subsequent enhancements
much easier and cheaper, e.g. providing
capped off connections that can link into
a planned community heating scheme.
CRITeRIon 2 – LImITS on
DeSIGn FLeXIBILITY
4.18 While the approach to complying with
Criterion 1 allows considerable design flexibility,
paragraph L1(a)(i) of Schedule 1 to the Building
Regulations requires that reasonable provision
should be made to limit heat gains and losses
through the fabric of the building, and
paragraphs L1(b)(i) and (ii) require that energy-
efficient fixed building services with effective
controls should be provided.
4.19 One way of showing that the requirement
has been satisfied would be to demonstrate that
the fabric elements and the fixed building services
all satisfy the minimum energy efficiency standards
specified in the following paragraphs.
Note that in order to satisfy the TER, the building
specification will need to be considerably better than
the stated values in many aspects of the design.
10
See the Planning Policy Statement Planning and climate change
and its supporting practice guidance at: www.communities.gov.uk/
planningandbuilding/planning/planningpolicyguidance/
planningpolicystatements/planningpolicystatements/ppsclimatechange/

15
DESIGN STANDARDS L1a
Fabric standards
4.20 Table 2 sets out the worst acceptable
standards for fabric properties. The stated value
represents the area-weighted average value for all
elements of that type. In general, the achievement
of the TER is likely to require significantly better
fabric performance than is set out in Table 2.
4.21 U-values shall be calculated using the
methods and conventions set out in BR 44311
,
and should be based on the whole element or
unit (e.g. in the case of a window, the combined
performance of the glazing and the frame).
In the case of windows, the U-value can be taken
as that for:
a. the smaller of the two standard windows
defined in BS EN 14351-112
; or
b. the standard configuration set out in BR 443; or
c. the specific size and configuration of the
actual window.
For domestic-type construction, SAP 2009 Table
6e gives values for different window configurations
that can be used in the absence of test data or
calculated values.
4.22 The U-values for roof windows and
rooflights given in this Approved Document are
based on the U-value having been assessed with
the roof window or rooflight in the vertical position.
If a particular unit has been assessed in a plane
other than the vertical, the standards given in
this Approved Document should be modified
by making an adjustment that is dependent on
the slope of the unit following the guidance given
in BR 443.
Table 2 Limiting fabric parameters
Roof 0.20 W/m2
.K
Wall 0.30 W/m2
.K
Floor 0.25 W/m2
.K
Party wall 0.20 W/m2
.K
Windows, roof windows, glazed rooflights, curtain walling and pedestrian doors 2.00 W/m2
.K
Air permeability 10.00 m3
/h.m2
at 50 Pa
Approved Document C gives limiting values for
individual elements to minimise condensation risk.
11
BR 443 Conventions for U-value calculations, BRE, 2006.
12
EN 14351-1, Windows and doors – Product standard, performance
characteristics, 2006.
System efficiencies
4.23 Each fixed building service should be at
least as efficient as the worst acceptable value
for the particular type of appliance as set out
in the Domestic Building Services Compliance
Guide13
. If the type of appliance is not covered
by the Guide, then reasonable provision would
be to demonstrate that the proposed system is
not less efficient than a comparable system that
is covered by the Guide.
To not inhibit innovation.
4.24 The efficiency claimed for the fixed building
service should be based on the appropriate test
standard as set out in the Guide and the test data
should be certified by a notified body. It would be
reasonable for BCBs to accept such data at face
value. In the absence of such quality assured
data, the BCB should satisfy itself that the
claimed performance is justified.
13
Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide, DCLG, 2010 Edition.

16
CRITeRIon 3 – LImITInG
THe eFFeCTS oF SoLaR
GaInS In SummeR
4.25 As required by paragraph L1(a)(i) of
Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations,
reasonable provision should be made to limit
solar gains. Solar gains are beneficial in winter as
a means of offsetting heating demand, but can
contribute to overheating in the summer months.
Limiting the effects of solar gain in summer can
be achieved by an appropriate combination of
window size and orientation, solar protection
through shading and other solar control measures,
ventilation (day and night) and high thermal
capacity. If ventilation is provided using a balanced
mechanical system, consideration should be given
to providing a summer bypass function during
warm weather (or allow the dwelling to operate
via natural ventilation) so that the ventilation is
more effective in reducing overheating.
4.26 SAP 2009 Appendix P contains a procedure
enabling designers to check whether solar gains
are excessive. Reasonable provision would be
achieved if the SAP assessment indicates that the
dwelling will not have a high risk of high internal
temperatures. This assessment should be done
regardless of whether or not the dwelling has
mechanical cooling. If the dwelling has mechanical
cooling, the assessment should be based on the
design without the cooling system operating, but
with an appropriate assumption about effective
air change rate through openable windows.
Designers may wish to go beyond the requirements
in the current Building Regulations to consider
the impacts of future global warming on the risks
of higher internal temperatures occurring more
often. CIBSE TM 36 Climate change and the indoor
environment14
gives guidance on this issue.
4.27 When seeking to limit solar gains,
consideration should be given to the provision of
adequate levels of daylight. BS 8206 – 2 Code of
practice for daylighting15
gives guidance on
maintaining adequate levels of daylight.
The Building Regulations do not specify minimum
daylight requirements. However, reducing
window area produces conflicting impacts on the
predicted CO2
emissions: reduced solar gain but
increased use of electric lighting. As a general guide,
if the area of glazing is much less than 20 per
cent of the total floor area, some parts of the
dwelling may experience poor levels of daylight,
resulting in increased use of electric lighting.
14
TM36 Climate change and the indoor environment: impacts and
adaptation, CIBSE, 2005.
15
BS 8206–2:2008 Lighting for buildings. Code of practice for daylighting.
O N L I N E V E R S I O NANDARDSO N L I N E V E R S I O NANDARDS

17
L1a
CRITeRIon 4 – BuILDInG
PeRFoRmanCe ConSISTenT
WITH DER
5.1 Dwellings should be constructed and
equipped so that performance is consistent with
the calculated DER. As indicated in paragraph 4.8,
a final calculation of the DER is required to take
account of any changes in performance between
design and construction and to demonstrate that
the building as constructed meets the TER as
required by regulation 26. The following
paragraphs in this section set out what in normal
circumstances would be reasonable provision
to ensure that the actual performance of the
building is consistent with the DER.
The provision of information referred to in
paragraph 4.10 will assist BCBs in checking that
the key features of the design are included during
the construction process.
5.2 In accordance with Part L and regulation
7, the building fabric should be constructed to a
reasonable standard so that:
a. the insulation is reasonably continuous over
the whole building envelope; and
b. the air permeability is within reasonable limits.
Party walls and other thermal
bypasses
5.3 Contrary to previous assumptions, party
cavity-walls may not be zero heat loss walls
because air flow in the cavity provides a heat loss
mechanism.
Where outside air is able to flow into the party
wall cavity a cold zone is created which results in
heat flux through the wall sections on either side.
The extent of air flow and heat flux will depend on
external conditions such as wind and temperatures
and also on the setting up of a ventilation stack
effect caused by the warmed air rising in the
cavity to be replaced by cooler air drawn in from
outside. The air movements involved can be
significant and, if no steps are taken to restrict
flows, the resulting heat losses can be large.
5.4 The heat loss can be reduced by measures
that restrict air movement through the cavity,
either by means of fully filling the cavity and/or by
providing effective sealing around the perimeter.
Generic solutions to minimising party wall heat
loss are available at www.planningportal.gov.uk.
The extent to which heat loss can be reduced
will be dependent on the detailed design and
the quality of construction. In the absence of any
specific, independent scientific field evidence,
reasonable provision would be to adopt the
guidance on U-values in paragraph 5.5.
Fully filling the cavity may have implications for
sound transmission through party walls. Developers
who follow this route must satisfy the BCB that
the requirements of Part E will be satisfied, either
by adopting a full fill detail accredited under
the Robust Details scheme, or through specific
site testing.
5.5 In calculating the DER for a dwelling, the
party wall U-value to be assumed for the type of
construction adopted is set out in Table 3.
5.6 In applying the U-values in Table 3 it is
important that where edge sealing is adopted,
either on its own or in conjunction with a fully
filled cavity, the sealing is effective in restricting
air flow and is aligned with the thermal envelope.
Although effective sealing may be part of a cavity
barrier which is provided in order to comply with
Part B (Fire), a cavity barrier on its own may not
be effective in restricting air flow. In order to claim
a reduced U-value (0.2 or 0.0) it will be necessary
to demonstrate that the design adopted is likely
to be robust under normal site conditions. In
addition, it is important that the sealing system
be applied in such a way as to be in line with the
thermal envelope. Any solution to reducing party
wall heat loss must take into account all the
requirements in Schedule 1, but particular attention
should be given to the requirements of Part E.
For example, in a room-in-roof design, the
insulation layer may follow the sloping roof
sections to a horizontal ceiling then continue at
ceiling level. In such a case it is important that
the party wall cavity seal follows the line of the
insulation in the slope and horizontal ceiling
sections (though for the purposes of Part B (Fire)
it may be necessary to ensure that the fire cavity
barrier follows the slope to the ridge). In the case
of flats, the sealing system should follow the line
of party floors and other party structures as well
as the main thermal envelope.
5.7 In considering heat losses via party walls
it is important to remember that wherever the
wall penetrates an insulation layer, such as when
the blockwork of a masonry party wall penetrates
insulation at ceiling level, a thermal bridge is
likely to exist. This will be the case even where
the party wall U-value is zero. The evaluation of
thermal bridges should ensure that any bridging
at the party wall is taken into account along with
other thermal bridges. It is important also to be
satisfied that any solution to the party wall
bypass does not contravene other parts of the
Regulations, in particular Part E (Sound).
Section 5: quality of construction
and commissioning

18
5.8 The party wall is a particular case of the
more general thermal bypass problem that occurs
where the air barrier and the insulation layer are
not contiguous and the cavity between them is
subject to air movement. To avoid the consequent
reduction in thermal performance, either the
insulation layer should be contiguous with the air
barrier at all points in the building envelope, or
the space between them should be filled with
solid material such as in a masonry wall.
Thermal bridges
5.9 The building fabric should be constructed
so that there are no reasonably avoidable thermal
bridges in the insulation layers caused by gaps
within the various elements, at the joints between
elements, and at the edges of elements such as
those around window and door openings.
5.10 Where calculated in support of the
approaches set out in paragraphs 5.12a and
5.12b, linear thermal transmittances and
temperature factors should be calculated
following the guidance set out in BR 49716
.
Reasonable provision would be to demonstrate
that the specified details achieve a temperature
factor that is no worse than the performance set
out in BRE IP 1/0617
.
5.11 Similarly, in support of the approaches set
out in paragraphs 5.12a and 5.12b, the builder
would have to demonstrate that an appropriate
system of site inspection is in place to give
confidence that the construction procedures
achieve the required standards of consistency.
5.12 Ways of demonstrating that reasonable
provision has been made are:
a. To adopt a quality-assured accredited
construction details approach in accordance
with a scheme approved by the Secretary of
State. If such a scheme is utilised then the
calculated linear thermal transmittance can
be used directly in the DER calculation;
16
BR 497 Conventions for calculating linear thermal transmittance and
temperature factors, BRE 2007.
17
IP 1/06 Assessing the effects of thermal bridging at junctions and around
openings in the external elements of buildings, BRE 2006.
For new buildings, such scheme(s) accredit and
quality assure the calculation of the linear thermal
transmittance, accredit details in terms of
buildability and have an associated quality
assurance regime that inspects a sample of sites
to confirm that the details are being implemented
correctly. The use of such schemes may also
allow a reduction in the Building Control charges.
b. To use details that have not been subject to
independent assessment of the construction
method. However, in this case, the linear
thermal transmittance should still have been
calculated by a person with suitable expertise
and experience following the guidance set
out in BR 497, and a process flow sequence
should be provided to the BCB indicating the
way in which the detail should be constructed.
The calculated value increased by 0.02 W/mK
or 25 per cent whichever is greater can then
be used in the DER calculation;
Evidence of suitable expertise and experience for
calculating linear thermal transmittance would be
to demonstrate that the person has been trained
in the software used to carry out the calculation,
has applied that model to the example calculations
set out in BR 497 and has achieved results that
are within the stated tolerances. Builders following
this route will inevitably add to the burden of
checking required of the BCB and adopting this
route may attract higher building control fees
than the alternative approaches.
c. To use unaccredited details, with no specific
quantification of the thermal bridge values. In
such cases a conservative default y-value of
0.15 must be used in the DER calculation.
5.13 The alternative approaches a and b
above are not mutually exclusive. For example,
a builder could use the accredited construction
details scheme approach for the majority of the
junctions, but use a bespoke detail for the
window head. In this case, the 0.02 W/mK or
25 per cent, whichever is greater margin, would
apply only to the thermal transmittance of the
window head detail.
L1a QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING
Table 3 u-values for party walls
Party wall construction u-value (W/m2
K)
Solid 0.0
Unfilled cavity with no effective edge sealing 0.5
Unfilled cavity with effective sealing around all exposed edges and in line with
insulation layers in abutting elements
0.2
A fully filled cavity with effective sealing at all exposed edges and in line with
insulation layers in abutting elements
0.0
O N L I N E V E R S I O NQUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONINGO N L I N E V E R S I O NQUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING

19
QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING L1a
air permeability and pressure testing
5.14 In order to demonstrate that an acceptable
air permeability has been achieved, Regulation
43 states:
Pressure testing
43.–(1) This regulation applies to the erection of a
building in relation to which paragraph L1(a)(i) of
Schedule 1 imposes a requirement.
(2) Where this regulation applies, the person
carrying out the work shall, for the purpose of
ensuring compliance with regulation 26 and
paragraph L1(a)(i) of Schedule 1:
a. ensure that:
i. pressure testing is carried out in such
circumstances as are approved by the
Secretary of State; and
ii. the testing is carried out in accordance
with a procedure approved by the
b. subject to paragraph (5), give notice of the
results of the testing to the local authority.
(3) The notice referred to in paragraph (2)(b) shall:
a. record the results and the data upon which
they are based in a manner approved by the
b. be given to the local authority not later than
seven days after the final test is carried out.
(4) A local authority is authorised to accept, as
evidence that the requirements of paragraph
(2)(a)(ii) have been satisfied, a certificate to that
effect by a person who is registered by the British
Institute of Non-destructive Testing in respect of
pressure testing for the air tightness of buildings.
(5) Where such a certificate contains the information
required by paragraph (3)(a), paragraph (2)(b)
does not apply.
5.15 The approved procedure for pressure
testing is given in the ATTMA publication Measuring
air permeability of building envelopes18
, and,
specifically, the method that tests the building
envelope. The preferred test method is that
trickle ventilators should be temporarily sealed
rather than just closed. BCBs should be provided
with evidence that test equipment has been
calibrated within the previous 12 months using a
UKAS-accredited facility. The manner approved
for recording the results and the data on which
they are based is given in section 4 of that
document.
5.16 BCBs are authorised to accept, as evidence
of compliance, a certificate offered under regulation
43(4). It should be confirmed to the BCB that the
person has received appropriate training and is
registered to test the specific class of building
concerned.
18
Measuring air permeability in the envelopes of dwellings, Technical
Standard L1, ATTMA, 2010
5.17 The approved circumstances under which
the Secretary of State requires pressure testing
to be carried out are set out in paragraphs 5.18
to 5.23.
5.18 On each development, an air pressure
test should be carried out on three units of each
dwelling type or 50 per cent of all instances of
that dwelling type, whichever is the less. For the
purposes of this Approved Document, a block of
flats should be treated as a separate development
irrespective of the number of blocks on the site.
The dwelling(s) to be tested should be taken
from the first completed batch of units of each
dwelling type.
Most larger developments will include many
dwelling types – and multiple units of each type
should be tested to confirm the robustness of the
designs and the construction procedures.
5.19 The specific dwellings making up the
test sample should be selected by the BCB in
consultation with the pressure tester. They should
be selected so that about half of the scheduled
tests for each dwelling type are carried out
during construction of the first 25 per cent of
each dwelling type. All tests on dwellings in the
sample shall be reported to the BCB, including
any test failure (see paragraphs 5.20 to 5.22).
The aim is to enable lessons to be learned and
adjustments to design and/or site procedures
to be made before the majority of the dwellings
are built.
Showing compliance with regulation 43 and
the consequences of failing a pressure test
5.20 Compliance with the requirements would
be demonstrated if:
a. the measured air permeability is not worse
than the limit value of 10 m3
/(h.m2
) at 50 Pa; and
b. the DER calculated using the measured air
permeability is not worse than the TER.
This means that if a design adopted a low (i.e.
better) design air permeability in order to achieve
a performance better than the TER, it would not
fail to comply with Part L if the pressure test
achieved the limit value and the TER was achieved.
5.21 If satisfactory performance is not achieved,
then remedial measures should be carried out on
the dwelling and a new test carried out until the
dwelling achieves the criteria set out in paragraph
5.20. In addition, a further dwelling of the same
dwelling type should be tested, thereby
increasing the overall sample size.
5.22 In addition to the remedial work on a
dwelling that failed the initial test, other dwellings
of the same dwelling type that have not been
tested should be examined and, where appropriate,
similar remedial measures applied.

20
L1a QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING
alternative to pressure testing on
small developments
5.23 As an alternative approach to specific
pressure testing on development sites where no
more than two dwellings are to be erected,
reasonable provision would be:
a. to demonstrate that during the preceding
12 month period, a dwelling of the same
dwelling type constructed by the same
builder had been pressure tested according
to the procedures given in paragraphs 5.14
to 5.19 and had achieved the design air
permeability; or
b. avoid the need for any pressure testing by
using a value of 15 m3
/(h.m2
) at 50 Pa for the
air permeability when calculating the DER.
The effect of using this cautious value would
then have to be compensated for by improved
standards elsewhere in the dwelling design.
CommISIonInG oF HeaTInG
anD HoT WaTeR SYSTemS
5.24 Paragraph L1(b)(iii) of Schedule 1 to the
Building Regulations requires fixed building
services to be commissioned by testing and
adjustment as necessary to ensure that they use
no more fuel and power than is reasonable in
the circumstances. In order to demonstrate that
the heating and hot water systems have been
adequately commissioned, regulation 44 states:
44 Commissioning
(1) This regulation applies to building work in
relation to which paragraph F1(2) of Schedule 1
imposes a requirement, but does not apply to
the provision or extension of any fixed system for
mechanical ventilation or any associated controls
where testing and adjustment is not possible.
(2) This regulation applies to building work in
relation to which paragraph L1(b) of Schedule 1
imposes a requirement, but does not apply to
the provision or extension of any fixed building
service where testing and adjustment is not
possible or would not affect the energy efficiency
of that fixed building service.
(3) Where this regulation applies the person
carrying out the work shall, for the purpose of
ensuring compliance with paragraph F1(2) or
L1(b) of Schedule 1, give to the local authority a
notice confirming that the fixed building services
have been commissioned in accordance with a
procedure approved by the Secretary of State.
(4) The notice shall be given to the local authority–
(a) not later than the date on which the notice
required by regulation 16(4) is required to be
given; or
(b) where that regulation does not apply, not more
than 30 days after completion of the work.
5.25 It would be useful to prepare a commissioning
plan, identifying the systems that need to be tested
and the tests that will be carried out and provide
this with the design stage TER/DER calculation
so that the BCB can check the commissioning
is being done as the work proceeds.
The use of the templates in the Model
Commissioning Plan (BSRIA BG 8/2009) is a way
of documenting the process in an appropriate way.
5.26 Not all fixed building services will need to
be commissioned. With some systems adjustment
is not possible as the only controls are ‘on’ and
‘off’ switches. Examples of this would be some
mechanical extraction systems or single fixed
electrical heaters. In other cases commissioning
would be possible but in the specific circumstances
would have no effect on energy use. Fixed building
services which do not require commissioning
should be identified in the commissioning plan,
along with the reason for not requiring
commissioning.
5.27 Where commissioning is carried out it must
be done in accordance with a procedure approved
by the Secretary of State. For heating and hot
water systems the approved procedures are set
out in the Domestic building services compliance
guide. For ventilation systems, the approved
procedure is set out in the Domestic Ventilation
Compliance Guide19
.
5.28 Commissioning is often carried out by the
person who installs the system. In other cases it
may be carried out by a subcontractor or by a
specialist firm. It is important that whoever
carries it out follows the relevant approved
procedure in doing so.
5.29 Where a building notice or full plans have
been given to a local authority BCB the notice of
completion of commissioning should be given to
that BCB within five days of the completion of
the commissioning work. In other cases, for
example where work is carried out by a person
registered with a competent person scheme (see
paragraph 3.9), it must be given within 30 days.
5.30 Where an approved inspector is the BCB
the notice of completion of commissioning should
generally be given to the approved inspector
within five days of the completion of work. However,
where the work is carried out by a person
registered with a competent person scheme (see
paragraph 3.9) the notice must be given within
30 days. Where the installation of fixed building
services which require commissioning is carried
out by a person registered with a competent
person scheme the notice of commissioning
will be given by that person.
5.31 Until the BCB receives the commissioning
notice it is likely that it cannot be reasonably
satisfied that Part L has been complied with and
consequently is unlikely to be able to give a
completion/final certificate.
19
Domestic Ventilation Compliance Guide, DCLG, 2010.

21
L1a
CRITeRIon 5 – PRoVISIonS FoR
eneRGY-eFFICIenT oPeRaTIon
oF THe DWeLLInG
6.1 In accordance with regulation 40 of
Schedule 1, the owner of the dwelling should
be provided with sufficient information about the
building, the fixed building services and their
maintenance requirements so that the building
can be operated in such a manner as to use no
more fuel and power than is reasonable in the
circumstances.
6.2 A way of complying with the requirement
would be to provide a suitable set of operating
and maintenance instructions aimed at achieving
efficiency in the use of fuel and power in a way
that householders can understand, in a durable
format that can be kept and referred to over the
service life of the system(s). The instructions
should be directly related to the particular
system(s) installed in the dwelling.
6.3 Without prejudice to the need to comply
with health and safety requirements, the
instructions should explain to the occupier of the
dwelling how to operate the system(s) efficiently.
This should include:
a. how to make adjustments to the timing and
temperature control settings; and
b. what routine maintenance is needed to
enable operating efficiency to be maintained
at a reasonable level through the service
live(s) of the system(s).
6.4 The data used to calculate the TER and the
DER should be included with the operating and
maintenance instructions. The occupier should
also be provided with the recommendations report
generated in parallel with the ‘on-construction’
Energy Performance Certificate. This will inform
the occupier how the energy performance of the
dwelling might be further improved.
It would also be sensible to retain an electronic
copy of the TER/DER input file for the energy
calculation to facilitate any future analysis that
may be required by the owner when altering or
improving the building.
Section 6: Providing information

22
L1a
7.1 Some builders may prefer to adopt model
design packages rather than to engage in design
for themselves. These model packages of fabric
U-values, boiler seasonal efficiencies, window
opening allowances, etc. should achieve
compliant overall performance within certain
constraints. The construction industry may
develop model designs for this purpose, with
information about such designs being made
available at www.modeldesigns.info
7.2 It will still be necessary to demonstrate
compliance in the particular case by going
through the procedures described in paragraphs
4.7 to 4.14.
Section 7: model designs

23
L1a
appendix a: Reporting evidence of compliance
1. To facilitate effective communication between
the builder and BCB, it would be beneficial to
adopt a standardised format for presenting
the evidence that demonstrates compliance
with the energy efficiency requirements.
(Other than the CO2
target, which is mandatory,
the other compliance criteria represent
reasonable provision in normal circumstances.
In unusual circumstances, alternative limits
may represent reasonable provision, but this
would have to be demonstrated in the
particular case.)
2. Since the data in SAP 2009 and the results they
calculate can provide a substantial proportion
of the evidence in support of the compliance
demonstration, it is anticipated that software
implementations of SAP 2009 will produce
this report as a standard output option.
3. It is anticipated that two versions of the
standardised report would be produced by
software implementations of SAP 2009: the
first before commencement of works to include
the TER/DER calculation plus supporting list
of specifications and the second after
completion to include the as built TER/DER
calculation plus any changes to the list of
specifications. The first design-stage report
and accompanying list of specifications can
then be used by the BCB to assist checking
that what has been designed is actually built.
A standardised report should enable the
source of the evidence to be indicated, and
allow the credentials of those submitting the
evidence to be declared.
4. An important part of demonstrating
compliance is to make a clear connection
between the product specifications and the
data inputs required by the compliance
software (e.g. what is the wall construction
that delivers the claimed U-value?). Examples
as to how compliance software might provide
this link are:
Parameter
Wall U-value 0.20 W/m2
K
Roof U-value 0.13 W/m2
K
Floor U-value 0.20 W/m2
K
Window/door U-value 1.50 W/m2
K
Party wall U-value 0.20 W/m2
K
Thermal bridging value 0.04 W/m2
K
Design air permeability 5.0 m3
/(h.m2
) at 50 Pa
Any secondary heating appliance
Any item involving SAP Appendix Q
Use of any low carbon or renewable energy technology
note: Solutions using electric resistance heating may have to better several of these fabric parameters if the design does not include an element of
renewable energy provision.
a. By giving each data input a reference code
that can be mapped against a separate
submission by the builder/developer that
details the specification corresponding to
each unique reference code in the data
input.
b. By providing a fee-text entry facility along
with each input parameter that has a
unique reference code, thereby allowing
the software to capture the specification
of each item and so include the full details
in an integrated output report.
c. By including one or more utility programs
that derive the data input from the
specification, e.g. a U-value calculator
that conforms to BR 443 and that
calculates the U-value based on the layer
thicknesses and conductivities, repeating
thermal bridge effects etc. Outputs from
such a utility program could then
automatically generate the type of
integrated report described at b. above.
It would also help the BCB if the software
included a facility to compare the ‘as designed’
and ‘as constructed’ data input files and
automatically produce a schedule of changes.
5. The report should highlight any items whose
specification is better than typically expected
values. The BCB can then give particular
attention to such ‘key features’, as their
appropriate installation will be critical in
achieving the TER. The BCB should give
particular attention to those aspects where
the claimed specification delivers an energy
efficiency standard in advance of that defined
in the following schedule.

24
air Tightness Testing and
measurement association
(aTTma)
www.attma.org
Measuring air permeability in the air envelopes of
dwellings, Technical Standard L1, 2010.
BRe
www.bre.co.uk
BR 443 Conventions for U-value calculations,
2006. (Available at www.bre.co.uk/uvalues)
Information Paper IP1/06 Assessing the effects
of thermal bridging at junctions and around
openings in the external elements of buildings,
2006. ISBN 978 1 86081 904 9
BRE Report BR 497 Conventions for Calculating
Linear Thermal Transmittance and Temperature
Factors 2007. ISBN 978 1 86081 986 5
BSRIa
www.bsria.co.uk
BSRIA BG 8/2009 Model Commissioning Plan
CIBSe
www.cibse.org
TM 36 Climate change and the indoor
environment: impacts and adaptation, 2005.
ISBN 978 1 90328 750 7
Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills
www.bis.gov.uk
Technical Standards and Regulations Directive
98/34/EC (Available at: www.bis.gov.uk/policies/
innovation/infrastructure/standardisation/
tech-standards-directive)
Department for energy and
Climate Change (DeCC)
www.decc.gov.uk
The Government’s Standard Assessment
Procedure for energy rating of dwellings, SAP
2009. (Available at www.bre.co.uk/sap2009)
SEDBUK Boiler Efficiency Database (Available
at www.sedbuk.com)
Department for Communities and
Local Government
www.communities.gov.uk
Notice of Approval of the methodology of
calculation of the energy performance of
buildings in England and Wales
Planning Policy Statement Planning and
Climate Change (Available to download from:
www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/
planning/planningpolicyguidance/
planningpolicystatements/planningpolicystatements/
ppsclimatechange/)
Health and Safety executive (HSe)
www.hse.gov.uk
L24 Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare:
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare)
Regulations1992, Approved Code of Practice
and Guidance.
nBS (on behalf of the Department
for Communities and Local
Government)
www.thebuildingregs.com
Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide,
DCLG, 2010.
Domestic Ventilation Compliance Guide,
DCLG, 2010.
(Both available to download from:
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk.)
Legislation
SI 1991/1620 Construction Products
Regulations 1991
SI 1994/3051 Construction Products
(Amendment) Regulations 1994
SI 1994/3260 Electrical Equipment (Safety)
Regulations 1994
SI 2000/2532 The Building (Approved Inspectors
etc.) Regulations 2000
SI 2007/991 Energy Performance of Buildings
(Certificates and Inspections) (England and
Wales) Regulations 2007
As implemented by the Electromagnetic
Compatibility Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3418)
Decision No 1/95 of the EC-Turkey Association
Council of 22 December 1995
L1a
appendix B: Documents referred to

25
L1a
BS en ISo 13370:2007 Thermal performance
of buildings. Heat transfer via the ground.
Calculation methods.
BS 8206-2:2008 Lighting for buildings. Code of
practice for daylighting.
BS en 14351-1:2006 Windows and doors.
Product standard, performance characteristics.
Windows and external pedestrian doorsets
without resistance to fire and/or smoke leakage
characteristics.
appendix C: Standards referred to

26
L1a
Index
a
accredited construction details
schemes 5.12–5.13
air permeability 4.8
Definitions 3.1
Fabric standards Table 2
Testing 5.14–5.23
approved Document L1a
Conventions 1.9
Purpose 1.1–1.6
Types of work covered 3.2–3.5
assessed air permeability 3.1, 4.8
asset rating 4.1
attic rooms 5.6
B
BCB
See Building Control Body (BCB)
Boiler efficiency 4.11
British Standards Appendix C
BS 8206–2: 2008 4.27
BS EN 14351-1 4.21
BS EN ISO 13370 3.33
Building Control Body (BCB)
Air permeability test results
5.15–5.16, 5.19
Definition 3.1
Demonstrating compliance 3.24–3.34,
4.9–4.11, Appendix A
Notice of completion of
commissioning 5.29–5.31
Notification of work 3.7–3.10, 4.10
Building fabric
Construction quality 5.2–5.13
Design flexibility 4.18–4.19
U-values 4.20–4.22, Table 2
Building log book 6.2–6.4
Building Regulations 2.1
Building services
See Fixed building services
C
Cavity walls 5.3–5.8, Table 3,
Ce marking 3.14
Certification
Competent person self-certification
schemes 3.7–3.12
Product certification schemes
3.16–3.18
Chimneys 4.12
Co2
emission rate
See Dwelling CO2
Emission Rate
(DER); Target CO2
Emission
Rate (TER)
Commissioning
Definition 3.1
Heating and hot water systems
5.24–5.31
Common areas 3.31
Community energy systems 4.16
Competent person self-certification
schemes 3.7–3.12
Compliance with requirements
1.2–1.3, 1.11
Demonstrating 3.24–3.34, 4.9–4.11,
Appendix A
Materials and workmanship
3.14, 3.18
Self-certification 3.10
Condensation risk 4.22
Conservatories 3.32
Construction quality 5.1–5.23
Controlled fittings 3.1
See also Doors; Windows
Controlled services 3.1
See also Fixed building services
D
Daylighting 4.27
DeR
See Dwelling CO2
Emission Rate (DER)
Design air permeability 3.1
Design flexibility 3.26, 4.15, 4.18–4.19
Design standards 4.1–4.27
Doors Table 2
Dwelling
Definition 3.1
Dwelling Co2
emission Rate (DeR)
3.25, 3.28
Calculation 4.7–4.8, 4.9–4.11
Internal lighting 4.13
Multiple dwellings 4.14
Secondary heating 4.12
Construction consistent with 5.1
Definition 3.1
Dwelling type
Definition 3.1
e
emission Factor adjustment (eFa) 4.4
energy assessors 4.9
energy efficiency requirements 2.1
Compliance with 1.2–1.3, 1.11
Definition 3.1
Fixed building services 4.23–4.24
energy performance
Calculation 4.1
Minimum requirements 4.1–4.2
See also Dwelling CO2
Emission
Rate (DER); Target CO2
Emission
Rate (TER)
energy Performance Certificate
2.1, 6.4
european Technical approval
3.14, 3.21
exemptions 3.6
F
Fabric
See Building fabric
Fixed building services
Commissioning 5.24–5.31
Definition 3.1
Limits on design flexibility 3.26,
4.18–4.19
System efficiencies 4.23–4.24
Floors Table 2
Flues 4.12
Fuel factor Table 1, 4.4–4.5
G
Gas fires 4.12
Glazing 4.21–4.22, Table 2
H
Health and safety 3.23
Heating and hot water systems
Commissioning 5.24–5.31
Multiple systems 4.12, 4.17
See also Fixed building services
I
Information provision 6.1–6.4
Internal lighting 4.13
L
Legislation Appendix B
European 3.14
See also Building Regulations
Lighting 4.13
Limitation on requirements 2.2–2.3
Limiting air permeability 3.1
Live-work units 3.3
Low and zero carbon (LZC)
technologies 4.15, 4.17
Low-energy lighting 4.13
m
maintenance instructions 6.2–6.4
material change of use 3.5
materials and workmanship 3.13–3.22
minimum energy performance
requirements 4.1–4.2
mixed-use buildings 3.4
model designs 7.1–7.2
multiple dwellings 3.31, 4.6, 4.14
multiple heating systems 4.12, 4.17
n
notice of completion of
commissioning 5.29–5.31
notification of work 3.7–3.12
o
open fires 4.12
operating and maintenance
instructions 6.2–6.4
operational rating 4.1
P
Party walls 5.3–5.8
Energy performance calculation 4.4
U-values 5.5–5.7, Table 2, Table 3
Passive control measures 3.27, 4.25
Porches 3.32
Pressure testing 5.14–5.22
Product certification schemes
3.16–3.18
Publications (excluding BSI and
european Standards) Appendix B
Assessing the effects of thermal
bridging at junctions and around
openings in the external elements
of buildings (BRE IP 1/06, 2008)
5.10
Climate change and the indoor
environment (CIBSE TM 36, 2005)
4.26
Construction Products Regulations
1991 (SI 1991/1620) 3.14
Conventions for calculating linear
thermal transmittance and
temperature factors (BRE 497,
2007) 5.10
Conventions for U-value calculations
(BR 443, 2006) 4.21
Domestic Building Services
Compliance Guide (DCLG, 2010)
4.23–4.24
Electrical Equipment (Safety)
Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/3260)
3.14
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3418)
3.14
Measuring air permeability of building
envelopes (Technical Standard L1,

27
ATTMA, 2010) 5.15
Model Commissioning Plan (BSRIA
BG 8/2009) 5.25
q
quality assurance 5.1–5.23
R
Rooflights 4.22
Roofs Table 2
Roof windows 4.22, Table 2
Room for residential purposes
Definition 3.1
S
SaP 2009 Appendix A (2–3), 3.24,
4.3–4.5, 4.26
Secondary heating 4.12
Self-certification schemes 3.7–3.12
Software Appendix A(2–4)
Solar control 3.27, 4.25–4.27
Solar hot water systems 4.17
Special areas 3.30–3.34
Standard assessment Procedure
See SAP 2009
Standards 3.19–3.22
See also British Standards
Swimming pools 3.33–3.34
System efficiencies 4.23–4.24
T
Target Co2
emission Rate (TeR) 3.25,
3.28, 4.2–4.5
Calculation 4.3–4.4, 4.6
Definition 3.1
Multiple dwellings 4.6
Technical specifications 3.19–3.22
Thermal bridges 5.7–5.13
Thermal elements
See Building fabric
Trade-offs 3.26, 4.13
u
u-values 4.21–4.22, Table 2
W
Walls Table 2, Table 3
Windows 4.21–4.22, Table 2
Workmanship 3.13–3.22
Workplace (Health, Safety and
Welfare) Regulations 1992 3.23
INDEX L1aO N L I N E V E R S I O N

The Building Regulations 2010
ISBN 978 1 85946 324 6
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