Building Regs updates 2022 - all the detail here
Building regulation changes landed in England on the 15th June 2022. If you’d like to know more, read on. This is also a heads up to the changes which will keep on coming until in 2025 we reach the Governments ‘Future Homes’ building standards.
HBXL’s Building Software is updated – as always – to keep up with latest regulatory changes so you can have comfort knowing you are on top of these when estimating.
Andy Morrell, HBXL’s Construction Engineer knows more about these changes than many as he has been instrumental in their rollout across EstimatorXpress and the Take-off & Estimate Kit. He explains the changes here.
Key changes to building regs in June 2022
Building Regulation approvals gained BEFORE 15th June 2022 – old standards still apply. However you only have until 15th June 2023 to commence building work before the approval lapses.
Building Regulation approvals gained AFTER 15th June 2022 – new standards apply
2 Approved Documents: O and S have been introduced
2 Approved Documents: F and L have been updated
Changes apply to house renovations, home extensions, and new builds (residential and non-residential)
Both EstimatorXpress, our estimating software and PlansXpress, our CAD and Take-off software, have been updated to reflect these regulatory changes.
What’s the reason building regulations have changed?
This is part of the government’s wider strategy to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
Homes have a big impact on the world’s carbon emissions so the building industry needs to play its part in dealing with the climate crisis.
And there’s more. In 2025 The Future Homes and Building Standards come into play. At that point all new houses must be ‘net zero ready’. The 2022 changes are step one in that plan. The mission is for all UK emissions to be net zero carbon by 2050.
APPROVED DOCUMENT F: VENTILATION - UPDATED
This update applies mostly to renovation projects however new builds and extensions could still be impacted.
PROBLEM
Air quality and safety is very important as Covid 19 has shown us. We need to prevent indoor air pollution, mould and airborne viruses.
The downside however of making sure homes keep warmth in is that air can’t circulate effectively. Houses today are so airtight and have such great draught exclusion, that airflow is nowhere near as good as it used to be.
So how does this impact refurbishments? If any renovation work makes the building less compliant with ventilation requirements of Building Regs then you’ll need to address it. On top of which extensions need to take into account the requirement for airflow rate testing.
SOLUTION
Improving ventilation should be achieved through either natural ventilation or mechanical ventilation or a combination of both.
All new and replacement windows must now have background ventilation i.e. trickle vents. Vents reduce stale air, and should also reduce condensation levels as well as mould in the house. This also means that security is improved as ventilation can occur while the window is closed.
Mechanical ventilation includes the likes of intermittent extract fans in kitchens, bathrooms and wet rooms which also address the problem. The government document here explains the scenarios - there are quite a few!
HBXL ACTIONS:
No changes required to HBXL software products.
APPROVED DOCUMENT L: CONSERVATION OF FUEL & POWER - UPDATED
This regulatory change has a significant impact on home extension U values. Where for new builds the focus is on renewable tech– specifically Solar Photovoltaic (solar panels) and Waste Water Heat Recovery (WWHR).
PROBLEM
Powering buildings and heating stands at around 40% of the UK’s total energy usage currently, according to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
Progress can be made in reducing carbon emissions if the requirement for heat and power in buildings could be reduced. And of course there’s a consumer cost-saving too.
SOLUTION
There’s lots of upgrades to extension guidance. Walls, roofs, floors, windows and doors all necessitate a chunky thermal upgrade compared to previous regulations thus bringing them much more in line with the new build guidance.
Additionally, new and replacement heating systems should be selected and designed to work with heat pumps in the future – practically this should encourage under floor heating and large radiators, and discourage microbore pipework.
For new builds, improved performance in windows and doors are needed, with a slight upgrade to roof insulation, a new focus on installing Solar PV (solar panels) and encouragement to build in Waste Water Heat Recovery (WWHR) systems into showers.
Heat pumps should be at least considered as a potential heat source, but are actually optional. They’re more likely to replace oil-fired central heating where homes are not on the gas grid.
The government document here explains in full.
HBXL ACTIONS:
EstimatorXpress –
Changes to specification in roof insulation, updated windows and doors, a NEW estimating calculator for Waste Water Heat Recovery (WWHR) systems, 6 NEW Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)*, a NEW Heat Pump cylinder estimating calculator*, a NEW Heat Pump System Components estimating calculator* and an update to the Photovoltaic estimating calculator.
*Plumbing & Heating Bonus Pack required
PlansXpress –
NEW Air Source Heat Pump symbols for placing (and estimated if using in conjunction with EstimatorXpress). NEW Heat Pump Cylinder & Heat Pump system Components symbols for placing (and estimated if using in conjunction with EstimatorXpress). NEW Waste Water Heat Recovery symbols for placing (and estimated if using in conjunction with EstimatorXpress). Building Regulations notes will be updated to accommodate changes.
APPROVED DOCUMENT O: OVERHEATING - NEW
This new building regulations document is firstly targeting new residential buildings.
PROBLEM
As we all know the planet is getting warmer and the welfare of building occupants should be thought about. We’re having more heatwaves. Unwanted solar heat during the summer months has to be reduced. How hot buildings get during heatwaves must be reduced.
SOLUTION
The first thing we can do is cap the amount of glazing in a building, particularly on walls facing South and West. Most window panes are required to be openable to achieve evening cooling.
New levels of cross-ventilation have been introduced to assist with excess heat removal– for example openings on opposing walls.
Other ‘passive measures’ might be awnings, shutters, shades and well-insulated pipework.
There are lot of calculations that need to be completed. See the government document here to understand more.
HBXL ACTIONS:
PlansXpress –
Building Regulations notes will be updated to accommodate the changes.
APPROVED DOCUMENT S: ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING - NEW
This is a brand new part of the building regulations! It is focused on new builds.
Problem
More people are opting for electric vehicles. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers:
“190,727 new BEVs joined Britain’s roads, along with 114,554 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), meaning 18.5% of all new cars registered in 2021 can be plugged in. This is in addition to the 147,246 hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) registered which took a further 8.9% market share in a bumper year for electrified car registrations, with 27.5% of the total market now electrified in some form.”
The UK needs to meet the demand. According to the Office for National Statistics over half of younger drivers are likely to make the change to electric vehicles in the next decade:
“Home charging is a far more common method of routinely fuelling electric vehicles (EVs), making up around 80% of all EV charging on the latest estimates, but the ability to do so depends on access to parking.
Home-charge device installations increased almost four-fold between March 2015 to March 2021, from 1065 to 5,084 a month (six monthly rolling averages).”
SOLUTION
For new buildings (residential) and it’s associated parking, an EV point (electric vehicle charging point) has to be installed for every parking space. Furthermore, where additional car parking spaces are provided, cable routes must be installed to each parking space to allow for retro-fitting of installation of charging points.
There are of course some exceptions and there are many details in the government document here which illustrate the permutations calculated by the number of dwellings/car parking spaces.
HBXL ACTIONS:
EstimatorXpress –
New EV charging points estimating calculator
PlansXpress –
NEW Electric vehicle Charging Point symbol for placing (and estimated if using in conjunction with EstimatorXpress). Building Regulations notes will be updated to accommodate the changes.