How Has Ventilation Testing been affected by Approved Document F?
What is Approved Document F?
Approved Document F specifically applies to a building’s ventilation and indoor air quality. This statutory guidance document dictates that adequate ventilation must be provided to guard against internal moisture build-up that could adversely impact the property’s structure. If not addressed, condensation and poor indoor airflow can affect the long-term health and wellbeing of residents.
In this post, we’ll consider some of the impacts the new legislation will have on Ventilation Testing and how Eecobuild can help.
What is Ventilation Testing?
Ventilation testing and ventilation commissioning are actually two different things. Testing refers to extractor fans like you would find in a toilet, bathroom or kitchen. These are tested to see how much air they extract.
Commissioning refers to more complicated ventilation systems, such as Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR). These need to be balanced, to make sure the correct amount of air is either being extracted from or supplied to every room in the house.
The tests must be undertaken using UKAS calibrated equipment and should be conducted by an engineer registered with a competent scheme. As such, Eecobuild engineers have successfully completed the BPEC Domestic Ventilation course and all of our equipment is fully UKAS calibrated.
As part of our service at Eecobuild, we offer our expertise from the very start of any project to give your property the best chance of passing.
What is changing in Approved Document Part F?
Given the tightened targets for air permeability, there is a greater emphasis on proper ventilation installation and choosing the correct method to achieve the required air changes to maintain air quality. Of course, there is more to the legislation changes than this, but this is the most significant amendment.
What are the new ventilation targets?
Within Part F, it is now specified that for buildings with an air tightness score of 3 or below, there is a requirement for continuous mechanical ventilation which can be centralised or decentralised. You can view our blog on changes to Part L (Conservation of fuel and power)
Targets to airflow rates have not been changed. Instead, the regulations have been simplified as it has been shown that a large proportion of new dwellings were failing due to ignorance or misinterpretation of Part F.
