Complexities of Part L continue to cause confusion

Changes to the UK Building Regulation to help cut carbon emissions are so complex that developers are struggling to implement them properly, according to Dave Allen, head of quality and standards at Butler & Young, a leading commercial supplier of building control. He says, ‘Despite coming into force more than three years ago, the relevant Part L of the Building Regulations 2006, which deals with conserving fuel and power, is often misinterpreted.’

One particularly difficult area is the section setting out the circumstances in which an existing building has to be brought up to scratch when an extension is added. This generally applies if the original building has a floor area of more than 1000 m2.

Mr Allen says, ‘Butler & Young surveyors regularly face difficulties when trying to ensure compliance with Part L when checking at design and construction stage.

‘The structure and wording of the Approved Documents can be difficult to interpret without further reference to supplementary documentation.

‘The Part L regulations differed radically with other guidance issued with the regulations and requires more testing to demonstrate that design intentions are realised in practice.

‘Part L also relies heavily on calculating what carbon emissions would be for a building of similar size and shape, built to earlier standards — the Simplified Building Energy Model — and ensuring there is a reduction of between 20 and 28%.’

Essential paperwork giving vital details about building design, materials and measurements often does not pass freely enough between developers and designers, leading to more confusion.

Mr Allen says, ‘Butler & Young has found that sitting with the design team as early as possible and working through Part L in a workshop environment can avoid any difficulties later in the design. No-one wants to rush ahead with a development, only to find they have to make expensive alterations part-way through in order to meet building-control regulations.’