Following his ongoing dealings with OBAS, Guy Shorrock of Aldrock Surveyors Limited in Blackburn was keen to offers his expert perspective on complying with Part L of Buildings Regulations with OBAS customers:

 

No area, when building a new property or extending one is more complex than complying with Part L of the Building Regulations. It is a consideration that must be made at design stage and our clients even take advice prior to putting pen to paper.


In April 2014 the regulations were further tightened further when The Department of Communities and local government (DCLG) implemented a 6% increase in building construction energy efficiency for domestic buildings and 9% for non-domestic buildings.

 

All building fabric U-values have been improved meaning the insulation and construction method must be improved and the air permeability of a new build is also a major requirement and designers are specifying virtually air tight buildings which means building practices must be to a very high standard.

 

So many people are not meeting these new standards and taking advice at the end of a project resulting in the new building not meeting the targets and therefore not receiving a completion certificate from Building Control. This simply means retrospective building fabrics or services have to be installed costing their client a significant amount of money.

 

To ensure these standards are met the building needs to be modelled in a building design software. SAP is used for domestic projects and SBEM is used for commercial projects. Taking this advice at the outset from a qualified experienced assessor will ensure that the design team and building contractor know exactly what material and building services are required as they will be specified early.

 

At Aldrock Surveyors Limited our SAP and SBEM assessors are also experienced Building Surveyors, which means we don't just specify materials and services but understand how everything goes together and typical costs. We are able to apply the most effective approach to meeting Part L which is why our clients continue to return for advice time after time.

 

Guy Shorrock BSC (HONS) BUILDING SURVEYING, DIP. DEA, NDEA & DEC is an experienced Building Surveyor, qualified Energy Assessor who has specialised in energy efficiency for all types of domestic, commercial and public buildings. Guy is also the Founder and Director of Just Construction & Property Networking. This is a network of well-established quality Construction & Property related companies. For further information please visit www.aldrocksurveyors.co.uk