Heating, Energy & Eco
274 sources in the library on heating, energy & eco, 8 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 2 of 7.
- supplier figure RN-6WF2OS cited
Screwfix
the retail price Screwfix publishes for hive trv003 white smart thermostatic radiator head 5 pack, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
- supplier figure RN-B1U3CT cited
Screwfix
the retail price Screwfix publishes for Underfloor Heating Mats, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
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Stelrad
The manufacturer output tables that radiator sizing depends on. Stelrad states that t50 is the UK industry standard for heating outputs, with an operating temperature of 75/65/20C, and directs users on a low temperature heat source to the t40 or t30 tables instead. At 450mm height and 1000mm length the delta T50 output is 756 W for a K1 single panel single convector, 1055 W for a P+ single panel double convector and 1371 W for a K2 double panel double convector. At 450mm by 1200mm the figures are 907 W, 1266 W and 1645 W. At 300mm by 1000mm they are 509 W, 745 W and 982 W. At 600mm height by 400mm length they are 392 W, 538 W and 693 W. Panel depths are 61mm for K1, 77mm for P+ and 100mm for K2, with total wall projections of 83mm, 101mm and 124mm. Heated surface area runs 2.09 to 9.15 m2 per metre and weight 9.31 to 40.53 kg per metre depending on type and height. Lengths run 300mm to 3000mm. The t50 caveat is the important part: a heat pump running at 45C flow will not get these numbers.
Cited in How to Bleed & Balance Radiators.
- supplier figure RN-GQWUKX cited
Toolstation
the retail price Toolstation publishes for the Hive V4 Smart Thermostat Hubless - Combi Boiler & Multizone OpenTherm, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
Cited in Heating, Plumbing & Electrics: Complete Guide, Room-by-Room Radiator Sizing.
- supplier figure RN-6XPZNW cited
Toolstation
the retail price Toolstation publishes for the Klima electric underfloor heating mat, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
Cited in Electric Heating Options Compared.
- supplier figure RN-QVHDQ0 cited
Toolstation
the retail price Toolstation publishes for Kudox Premium Type 22 Steel Panel Radiator 600 x 1200mm 7208Btu, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
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Toolstation
a Toolstation category listing for radiator valves, recorded as the page the prices for a TRV and lockshield pair were read from. What it lists, and at what price, changes with the range, so it evidences that a figure was seen at this merchant rather than a price a reader can confirm today
- supplier figure RN-XVWQ9E cited
Toolstation
the retail price Toolstation publishes for the Smart Panel Heater White 2000W, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
Cited in Electric Heating Options Compared.
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Department of Finance (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's Part L guidance, October 2012, and the clearest published table on how much permanent ventilation a gas cooker needs. Table 4.1 sets the ventilation for flueless gas appliances. For a cooker, oven, hotplate or grill or any combination of them, with no maximum rated heat input: a room, space or internal space under 5 cubic metres needs a permanently open air vent of 10,000 square millimetres free area; 5 to 10 cubic metres needs 5,000 square millimetres, and none at all if the room has a door opening directly outside; over 10 cubic metres needs no permanently open vent. A flueless instantaneous water heater may not be installed at all in a room under 5 cubic metres, needs 10,000 square millimetres from 5 to 10 cubic metres and 5,000 square millimetres over 10 up to 20 cubic metres. Flueless space heaters are limited to 0.045 kW net per cubic metre of room volume, or 0.090 kW net per cubic metre in an internal space such as a hallway or landing. Note 5 makes clear these permanent vents are additional to the openable elements and, for kitchens, the extract ventilation required by Part K. Regulation 54 onwards also covers hearths, flue and chimney design and the durable notice plate required when a hearth, fireplace, flue or chimney is provided or extended.
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Department of Finance and Personnel, Northern Ireland (Building Control NI)
Northern Ireland's equivalent of Approved Document G, issued under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 and the source to cite for a reader in NI. Regulation 85(1) requires a dwelling to have at least one water closet, one washbasin and one fixed bath or shower. Regulation 86(2) requires every washbasin, bath and shower to have a piped supply of hot and cold water. Regulation 87(2) requires the hot water supply to any fixed bath to be designed and installed so the temperature delivered to that bath does not exceed 48 degrees C, the same scalding limit as England and Wales. Regulation 88 governs unvented hot water storage systems, and the guidance splits them at 500 litres storage and 45 kW: Section 2 covers systems up to 500 litres and 45 kW, then systems over those thresholds, with a separate part on discharge pipes from tundishes.
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Department of Finance, Northern Ireland (Building Control NI)
The Northern Ireland U-value standards, which differ from England's Approved Document L and are the figures to quote for an NI reader. Table 2.2 gives limiting U-values for new dwellings in W/m2K as area-weighted averages: wall 0.18, floor 0.18, roof 0.16, party wall 0.00, and windows, roof windows, glazed rooflights, curtain walling and pedestrian doors 1.40. Column (b) sets the maximum U-value at any point: 0.60 for wall, floor and party wall, 0.30 for roof and 3.00 for windows and doors. Where space heating is underfloor heating the maximum floor U-value tightens to 0.15 W/m2K, and that 0.15 still applies even under the whole-building trade-off route in paragraph 2.44. Table 3.2, for new thermal elements in existing dwellings, gives wall 0.28, pitched roof with insulation at ceiling level 0.16, pitched roof with insulation at rafter level 0.18, flat roof or roof with integral insulation 0.18, floor 0.22 and swimming pool basin 0.25. Maximum permissible air permeability is 10 m3/(h.m2) at 50 Pa, with 5 or less expected in practice, and below 3 the booklet says alternatives to natural ventilation should be considered. Roof window and rooflight U-values are quoted as assessed in the vertical position and must be adjusted in accordance with BR 443 where assessed in another plane. Regulation 43 requires that where renovation of a thermal element amounts to more than 50 per cent of its surface area, the whole element is brought up to standard.
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Home Energy Scotland (Energy Saving Trust, funded by the Scottish Government)
Scotland's own funding route for heat pumps and insulation, which replaces rather than supplements the England and Wales Boiler Upgrade Scheme, so a Scottish reader must be pointed here. Funded by the Scottish Government, it gives homeowners a grant, an interest-free loan, or both. For clean heating systems such as heat pumps and heat network connections the grant is up to 7,500 pounds with a further 7,500 pounds available as an optional interest-free loan. For energy efficiency measures such as insulation the grant covers up to 75 per cent of the combined cost of measures to a maximum of 7,500 pounds, with the remainder available as an interest-free loan. A rural and island uplift of 1,500 pounds applies to both the heating and the energy efficiency grants, so a rural household can claim up to 18,000 pounds in grant funding. Per-measure grant caps are: air, ground or water source heat pumps and heat network connections 7,500 pounds; wood fuelled biomass boilers and eligible stoves 7,500 pounds; solid wall insulation, external or internal, 7,500 pounds; flat roof or room-in-roof insulation 3,000 pounds; loft, cavity and underfloor insulation 1,500 pounds; high heat retention storage heaters 2,500 pounds. Solar thermal (5,000 pounds loan), hybrid solar PV and water heating (5,000 pounds loan), wind turbine and hydro turbine (2,500 pounds loan each), insulated doors and warm air units are loan only with no grant. Eligibility does not depend on receiving benefits, but the property must be an existing home in Scotland that the applicant owns and occupies as their only or primary private residence. Only heat pumps providing 100 per cent of heating and hot water qualify, and hybrid heat pumps are not eligible.
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Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
A closed scheme that still binds new owners, which is a trap for anyone buying a property to renovate. The Green Deal is closed to new applicants, but where a property carries a Green Deal loan the liability travels with the property: whoever moves in is responsible for repaying it, through a charge added to the electricity bill, and can change electricity supplier only to one participating in the scheme. A seller or landlord is legally required to tell a buyer or tenant that a Green Deal loan exists, that they will be responsible for it, and to show them the Energy Performance Certificate before they move in; the EPC states what improvements were made and how much remains to be repaid. Early repayment is possible but may attract extra costs, notified by the company managing the loan. Complaints go to the Green Deal provider first, whose details are on the EPC, or to the DESNZ Green Deal team if the provider has ceased trading; if unresolved within 8 weeks the complaint goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service for mis-selling and other financial issues, or to the Energy Ombudsman for poor installation work or non-disclosure by a seller or landlord.
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Department of Finance (Northern Ireland)
The Northern Ireland index of technical booklets, which take the place of England's Approved Documents under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012. Current editions: B materials and workmanship (July 2013), C site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture (October 2012), D structure (October 2012), E fire safety (October 2012), F1 conservation of fuel and power in dwellings and F2 in other buildings (both June 2022), G resistance to the passage of sound (October 2012), H stairs, ramps, guarding and protection from impact (October 2012), J solid waste (October 2012), K ventilation (October 2012), L combustion appliances and fuel storage (October 2012), M physical infrastructure for high-speed communications networks (January 2017), N drainage (October 2012), P sanitary appliances, unvented hot water storage and reducing the risk of scalding (October 2012), R access to and use of buildings (October 2012) and V glazing (October 2012). Note for any electrical note: there is no Northern Ireland technical booklet covering electrical safety, so there is no Part P equivalent and no electrical competent person self-certification regime there. Ventilation is Booklet K, drainage Booklet N and glazing Booklet V, not F, H and K as in England.
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Department of Finance (Northern Ireland)
NORTHERN IRELAND, giving a fourth set of U-values distinct from England, Wales and Scotland. Table 2.2 sets limiting area-weighted average U-values in W/m2.K with a maximum permitted at any point in brackets: wall 0.18 (0.60), floor 0.18 (0.60), roof 0.16 (0.30), party wall 0.00 (0.60), and windows, roof windows, glazed rooflights, curtain walling and pedestrian doors 1.40 (3.00). Where the space heating source is underfloor heating the maximum floor U-value tightens to 0.15. Compare Wales at 0.13 for roofs and Scotland at 0.12, against NI's 0.16. Paragraph 2.43 limits the extent of external doors and glazed openings in a dwelling to no more than 25 per cent of the dwelling's floor area, and the limiting air permeability is 10 m3 per hour per square metre at 50 Pa, looser than the Welsh 8.0. U-values are calculated to BRE Report BR 443. A swimming pool basin must achieve not more than 0.25.
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GOV.UK
You must own the property, which can be a business premises, second home or rental, and you must be replacing a fossil fuel heating system such as oil, gas, electric or LPG. Properties that have already had government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler, social housing, and most new builds still under construction are excluded, though a finished new build with a fossil fuel boiler and an owner-built self build can qualify. A biomass boiler additionally requires the property to be off the gas grid, in a rural location as defined in Ofgem guidance, and the boiler to hold an emissions certificate. The installer must commission and install the heat pump within 120 days of applying for the grant or it will not be eligible, and the application is made through an MCS certified installer.
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GOV.UK
The council grant for adapting a home, and what work it can pay for. Eligibility covers physical disability, learning disability, age-related needs, autism, cognitive impairment such as dementia, a progressive condition such as motor neurone disease, terminal illness and mental health conditions. The listed works are wide enough to cover substantial building work: widening doors and installing ramps or grab rails, improving access to rooms and facilities with a stairlift or level access shower, improving access to the garden, building an extension such as a downstairs bedroom, providing a heating system suitable for the applicant's needs, and adapting heating or lighting controls. Confirms a Disabled Facilities Grant does not affect any other benefits the applicant receives.
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GOV.UK
Collection page listing five chargepoint grant schemes available until 31 March 2027 with new grant rates: the grant for renters and flat owners (up to £500), the grant for households with on-street parking using a cross-pavement solution (up to £500), the Workplace Charging Scheme (up to £500 per socket, maximum 40 sockets), the grant for landlords (up to £500 per socket, maximum 200 sockets) and the Workplace Charging Scheme for state-funded education institutions (up to £2,000 per socket, maximum 40 sockets). Note that the separate Workplace Charging Scheme applicant guidance page still states £350 per socket, so the two GOV.UK pages disagree on the WCS rate as at September 2026.
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GOV.UK
An EPC is required before a property is marketed for sale or rent and is valid for 10 years, rating the property from A at best to G at worst. Exemptions include temporary buildings in use for less than two years, stand-alone buildings under 50 square metres, industrial sites and non-residential agricultural buildings with low energy use, buildings due for demolition, holiday lets used for under four months a year, residential buildings occupied for less than four months a year, places of worship, and listed buildings where compliance would unacceptably alter their character or appearance. A fine applies where an EPC is required and not obtained. Assessors are found through the find an accredited assessor service.
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GOV.UK
The public register for energy certificates. It finds an energy performance certificate (EPC), a display energy certificate (DEC) for a public building, and an air conditioning inspection certificate and report, searching by postcode, by street name and town, or by certificate number. It covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland for homes, business properties and public buildings. Scotland uses a separate service, the Scottish EPC Register. This is how a reader checks their current EPC band and recommendations before deciding what to improve.
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GOV.UK
HUG Phase 2 ran from April 2023 until March 2025, with up to £630 million of grant funding for successful local authorities across the two financial years; local authority applications closed 27 January 2023 after assessment deadlines of 18 November 2022 and 27 January 2023. The page names no successor, so pair it with the Warm Homes: Local Grant page.
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GOV.UK
In a smoke control area you must not release smoke from a chimney and must not burn unauthorised fuel unless it is in a Defra-approved exempt appliance. Authorised smokeless fuels include anthracite, semi-anthracite, gas and low volatile steam coal. Wood and other unauthorised fuels may only be burnt in a Defra exempt appliance, and only the fuel types the manufacturer specifies. Outdoor barbecues, chimineas, fireplaces and pizza ovens are outside the rules, as are garden bonfires that follow the bonfire rules. Penalties in England are up to £300 for smoke from a chimney and up to £1,000 for burning unauthorised fuel in a non-approved appliance. Whether an address sits in a smoke control area is confirmed by the local council's environmental services team.
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GOV.UK (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The consultation and the published government response that set the direction for Parts L, F and O of the Building Regulations, which is what a note should cite when explaining what is coming rather than what applies today. The consultation ran from December 2023 to March 2024 and sought views on changes to the Building Regulations to improve the energy performance and ventilation standards of new homes and buildings, together with a call for evidence on the overheating standard in Part O. The page carries the consultation outcome, the government response document covering changes to Parts L and F and the Part O call for evidence, and the impact assessments. The response states that where relevant the outcomes will be implemented through a statutory instrument and new approved documents, which is the route by which the 2026 editions of Approved Documents L and F were made.
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Health and Safety Executive
Regulation 36A of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 requires a landlord to arrange an annual gas safety check within 12 months of a new appliance or flue being installed and annually thereafter. Only a Gas Safe registered engineer may carry out the maintenance and the safety check. The record must be kept for 2 years, given to existing tenants within 28 days of the check and to new tenants before they move in. Under the 2018 Amendment Regulations the check may be carried out up to 2 months before the due date while keeping the original deadline date, so the anniversary does not drift.
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Health and Safety Executive
The HSE's proportionality statement on legionella in domestic property, which corrects the common claim that landlords need a paid legionella certificate. Defines a landlord for this purpose as anyone renting out a property they own under a lease or licence shorter than 7 years, covering local authorities, housing associations, private landlords, housing co-operatives and hostels, and including renting a room within your own home. Identifies the legal basis as section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, with section 53 treating landlords as self-employed, plus the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, and the Approved Code of Practice L8 on the control of legionella bacteria in water systems. States plainly that while there is a duty to assess the risk, this does not require an in-depth, detailed assessment, and that risks in most residential settings are generally low because of regular water usage and turnover. Sets out the low-risk profile: daily water use sufficient to turn over the entire system, cold water direct from a wholesome mains supply with no stored water tanks, and hot water from instantaneous or low volume heaters.
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Health and Safety Executive
HSG274 Part 2, second edition 2024, ISBN 978 0 7176 6753 6, issued under the HSW Act 1974, COSHH 2002 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Paragraph 2 sets the risk trigger: water stored or recirculated, any part of the system between 20 and 45 degrees C, deposits such as rust, sludge or scale, and droplets that can be dispersed. Paragraph 2.6 gives the temperature regime: cold below 20 degrees C, hot stored at least at 60 degrees C and distributed so it reaches 50 degrees C (55 degrees C in healthcare) within one minute at the outlets. Cold branches should deliver close to incoming temperature within two minutes of running, and stored cold water should not normally exceed one day's use. Combination cylinders may store cold at up to 25 degrees C serving other outlets or 38 degrees C serving the hot vessel only, per the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, the Scottish Water Byelaws and BS 3198. Circulating return to the calorifier not less than 50 degrees C; shunt pumps must raise the whole vessel, including solar-heated cylinders, to 60 degrees C. Appendices 4 and 5 illustrate sentinel points.
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Health and Safety Executive
The HSE leaflet that carries the temperature range every hot water and cylinder note should cite. States there is a reasonably foreseeable legionella risk where water is stored or re-circulated, where water temperature in all or part of the system is between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius, where there are nutrients such as rust, sludge, scale and organic matter, and where water droplets can be produced and dispersed, giving showers and cooling tower aerosols as examples. Defines legionellosis as the collective name for the pneumonia-like illness caused by legionella bacteria, covering legionnaires' disease itself plus the less serious Pontiac fever and Lochgoilhead fever, and notes everyone is susceptible but higher risk attaches to people over 45, smokers and heavy drinkers, people with chronic respiratory or kidney disease, and anyone with an impaired immune system. Legionella pneumophila occurs naturally in rivers, lakes and reservoirs in low numbers but multiplies in purpose-built systems including cooling towers, evaporative condensers, hot and cold water systems, whirlpool and spa pools, humidifiers and air washers. Published 04/12 as leaflet INDG458, and points to the Approved Code of Practice L8 for detail on control.
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Health and Safety Executive
The HSE's own temperature rules for domestic hot and cold water, and the reason a cylinder thermostat should not simply be turned down to save money. Cold water systems should be maintained where possible at a temperature below 20 degrees C. Hot water should be stored at least at 60 degrees C and distributed so that it reaches 50 degrees C, or 55 degrees C in healthcare premises, within one minute at the outlets. Against that, there is a scalding risk where water comes out of taps above 44 degrees C. For most people the scalding risk is minimal where water is delivered up to 50 degrees C at hand-wash basins and a hot water warning notice may be sufficient, but where vulnerable people can access baths or showers and the scalding risk is significant, a Type 3 thermostatic mixing valve must be fitted to prevent water discharging above 44 degrees C. The page sets out the system types it applies to, including gravity fed hot and cold storage, hot water storage only, and cold storage only with mains pressure hot water. Last updated 28 October 2024.
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Historic Environment Scotland
The most useful of the HES INFORM guides for a retrofit note, because it addresses the failure mode that insulation guides skip. Published 31 August 2020 by Historic Environment Scotland, INFORM Guide, 2.82 MB PDF, audiences Planners and Owners and Conservation and Heritage enthusiasts. Scope stated on the page: the causes and risks of condensation in traditional buildings, how to identify the source of condensation and how to reduce it, with a PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE RISK OF INCREASED CONDENSATION AFTER THERMAL IMPROVEMENTS. That last point is the citable one: a public body stating that insulating a traditional building can increase condensation risk, which contradicts the common claim that insulation simply cures damp.
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Historic Environment Scotland
Free HES guidance on how a traditional house was designed to breathe, useful whenever a note explains why blocking air bricks or sealing a chimney causes damp. Published 1 October 2008 by Historic Scotland (now HES), INFORM Guide, 653 KB PDF, audiences Planners and Owners and Conservation and Heritage enthusiasts. Scope stated on the page: the importance of ventilation in a traditionally built structure, then the various ways ventilation is provided, specifically SUB-FLOOR VENTILATION and CHIMNEYS, and issues surrounding masonry walls and plastered surfaces. Cite it alongside Approved Document F when a note covers suspended timber floors, chimney capping or draught-proofing an older house.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The shortest Approved Document, covering requirement D1 of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010: if insulating material is inserted into a cavity in a cavity wall, reasonable precautions must be taken to prevent the subsequent permeation of toxic fumes into any part of the building occupied by people. The stated performance is that formaldehyde fumes given off by urea formaldehyde (UF) foams must not reach occupied parts at an irritant concentration, and paragraph 1.1 permits formaldehyde-emitting insulants only where a continuous barrier minimises the passage of fumes to occupiable parts. Paragraph 1.2 sets five conditions for filling a cavity with UF foam: the inner leaf must be masonry (brick or block); suitability must be assessed beforehand to BS 8208-1:1985; the installer must hold or operate under a current Certificate of Registration of Assessed Capability; the material must comply with BS 5617:1985; and installation must follow BS 5618:1985. The 2010 amendments were regulation renumbering only and the 2013 amendments changed only the materials and workmanship guidance, with no change to Part D of Schedule 1.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The rules for home EV charge points, made under regulations 44D to 44J. Paragraph 6.2 requires each charge point to be designed and installed as described in BS EN 61851, to have a minimum nominal rated output of 7kW, to be fitted with a universal untethered socket (a tethered point being acceptable only in exceptional circumstances such as a self build where the vehicle is already known), to carry a lights or visual display charging status indicator, and to be at least a Mode 3 specialised system running from a dedicated circuit as defined in BS EN IEC 61851-1, meeting BS 7671 and the IET Code of Practice: Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Installation. Regulation 44J itself requires a reasonable power output per parking space, a dedicated circuit, and compatibility with all vehicles that may need access. Paragraph 1.1 requires a new dwelling with associated parking to have a charge point for every associated parking space or every dwelling the car park serves. The document notes that Part P applies to the electrical work in a dwelling.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The 8 page document that sets out what a competent person scheme operator must satisfy, and it is what connects UKAS accreditation to the schemes a homeowner meets. Records that schemes are authorised under paragraph 4A of Schedule 1 to the Building Act 1984 and named in Schedule 3 to the Building Regulations 2010 as amended, and that in all cases demonstration must be sufficient to meet BS EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012, the product certification body standard. Condition 1 requires the scheme operator to achieve and maintain UKAS accreditation to BS EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012, within one year of authorisation for an extension to an existing scheme or within two years for a new scheme operator, with a UKAS pre-assessment submitted with the application. Condition 3 requires assessors and inspectors to be competent at least to the equivalent level in the relevant sector Minimum Technical Competence assessment procedure. Condition 4 requires a transparent fee structure, self-financing within not later than five years of authorisation, and use of registrants' registration and notification fees only for the benefit of registrants or the sector. Condition 5 requires documented management of conflicts of interest, noting the risk where a scheme is owned by a larger commercial, trade or professional body. In force for any UKAS assessment begun on or after 1 April 2016.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The publication page for the conditions a competent person self-certification scheme operator must meet, applying to England, first published 6 June 2012 and last updated 1 April 2016, from which date the conditions bite on any UKAS assessment begun on or after 1 April 2016. Hosts two documents: the main Competent person schemes conditions of authorisation of April 2016, an 8 page PDF of 289 KB, and a separate Building regulations: air tightness testing schemes conditions of authorisation of 5 pages and 141 KB, added 31 July 2014, because air tightness tester schemes carry different requirements from other types of work. Useful for establishing that a competent person scheme is a government-authorised, UKAS-accredited certification body rather than a trade membership list.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The only official series on how large the competent person schemes actually are, collected every 6 months from the schemes authorised in schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2010 as amended, covering total registered membership at the end of each period and the number of jobs those members undertook. Published 12 December 2012 and last updated 6 June 2018, with the latest document a 24 page PDF covering 1 October 2006 to 31 March 2018, so the series has not been refreshed since 2018 and any current membership figure quoted from it is dated. Three caveats matter for anyone citing the numbers: registered membership is counted by business not by individual, so the number of competent individuals is higher than the membership figure; the statistics combine all types of work except electrical installations for each scheme operator to avoid double counting members and notifications, because many members do more than one type of work; and schemes have changed over the collection period, so past and current data are not always meaningfully comparable.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The landing page for Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power. Volume 1: Dwellings, 2021 edition incorporating 2023 amendments, took effect 15 June 2022, with transitional cover where a building notice or initial notice was given or full plans deposited before 15 June 2022 and the work started before 15 June 2023. A 2026 edition, retitled Approved Document L: Energy and greenhouse gas emissions, Volume 1: Dwellings, is published on the same page alongside Volume 2 for buildings other than dwellings. Volume 1 was last updated 2 February 2023 and the 2023 amendment removed the primary energy factor as a performance standard for district heat networks and community heating.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The stable gov.uk landing page for Approved Document O, Overheating, 2021 edition, in force for England. It carries the free-area requirements a note would cite from Section 1: for cross-ventilated buildings the total minimum free area is the greater of 6% of floor area or 70% of glazing area in a high risk location, and the greater of 9% of floor area or 55% of glazing area in a moderate risk location (Table 1.3); without cross-ventilation it is the greater of 10% of floor area or 95% of glazing area (high risk) and 12% or 80% (moderate) (Table 1.4). Bedroom minimum free area is 13% of the room floor area in high risk locations and 4% in moderate. In high risk locations, glazing facing between north-east and north-west via south also needs shading by external shutters with ventilation, glazing with a maximum g-value of 0.4 and minimum light transmittance of 0.7, or overhangs with a 50 degree altitude cut-off on due south facades only; internal blinds, curtains and tree foliage may not be counted (paragraphs 2.8 and 2.9).
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The landing page for the 2019 research, published 1 October 2019 and applying to England, hosting the 87 page 3.97 MB report. States the primary aim was to evaluate whether the ventilation provisions recommended in the 2010 edition of Approved Document F provide satisfactory indoor air quality in new homes, with a secondary aim of establishing the extent to which installed systems comply with the minimum ADF provisions. Its headline conclusion is the one to cite: the study found poor indoor air quality in a number of the monitored homes, and failure to meet indoor air quality indicators corresponded in all cases with failure to meet the ADF ventilation recommendations, so the shortfall lay in installation and commissioning rather than in the standard itself.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
An 87 page field study published 1 October 2019 measuring what installed ventilation actually delivers, and its numbers demolish the assumption that a new or upgraded system performs as designed. Of 25 homes visited with continuous mechanical extract, only one met Approved Document F guidance on both extract fan air flow rates and trickle ventilator provision, with whole dwelling extract flow rates in normal low-rate mode ranging from 85 per cent below to 8 per cent above the recommended rate. Only half the homes met the minimum trickle ventilator areas, ranging from 60 per cent below to 107 per cent above the recommended area. On two of three dMEV development sites trickle ventilators had been fitted in the same rooms as the extract fans, contrary to ADF guidance, which can stop fans drawing air through the whole house. On air quality: 11 per cent of the limited monitoring sample had a room where weekly average relative humidity exceeded the recommended monthly average, always the bedroom, and condensation or mould was reported in each such room; 30 per cent exceeded the derived carbon dioxide guideline in the bedroom; and 60 per cent of the detailed monitoring sample exceeded the ADF total volatile organic compound performance standard. Ventilation was found adequate for nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide but not for moisture, body odour and VOCs. Notes that Part F 2010 introduced a legal requirement to test and commission installed fans and for the installer to notify the building control body of commissioning and air flow rates.
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Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland runs a materially wider set of housing grants than Great Britain, administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive rather than a local council. Six schemes are listed. The Affordable Warmth Scheme addresses fuel poverty and energy inefficiency for low-income households. The Disabled Facilities Grant adapts a disabled person's home, but unlike in England it requires a health trust occupational therapist to recommend the work. The Repair Grant helps landlords where a council has issued a statutory notice for repairs. The Renovation Grant is for homes inspected and found unfit to live in, and the property must be the applicant's main or only home. The Replacement Grant is available only where the home is in a rural area, is unfit to live in and repair is not an option. The Home Repair Assistance Grant covers small-scale repair work and improvements. The Renovation, Replacement and Home Repair Assistance Grants have no equivalent in England.