Quick Guide to Regulations
Following are quick links to some of the regulations affecting construction in the UK – all of which can be achieved with the help of Rockwool products.
Acoustic requirements
Building Regulations Approved Document E (ADE)
The ADE sets out criteria for sound insulation performance for all types of residential accommodation, including hotels, student halls of residence and residential homes - plus schools.
Approved Document E 2003
The 2004 Edition
The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Schools 2006
Under Health and Wellbeing, Acoustic Performance (HW17), BREEAM stipulates that credits will be awarded for new build and refurbishment projects where the indoor ambient noise levels during ‘heavy’ rainfall are exceeded by no more than 20dB in the design calculations. Find out more…
BREEAM
Fire safety regulations
Fire safety requirements are based on safety, means of escape, inhibiting the spread of fire both internally and from one building to another, ensuring the stability of buildings and providing adequate access for fire-fighters in and around buildings.
The following cover use of construction materials and their installation plus the statutory risk assessment and management requirements for buildings owners, employers, managers, occupiers and designers.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Approved Document B Fire safety requirements
Euroclasses (the European classification system for construction products).
Loss Prevention Certification Board - assess and approve fire safety products and their installation
Thermal standards
Part L 2010
The new standards look at delivering a 25% reduction in carbon emissions from new buildings compared to the standards set in the 2006 Part L (equivalent to Code Level 3 Code for Sustainable homes). By making new homes and non-dwellings more energy efficient, they look to save householders around £100 a year on their heating bills and around 2 million tonnes of carbon saved every year by 2020.
An Introduction to Part L 2010
An introduction to Part L – U-values
An introduction to Part L – Insulating Pipes and Ducts.
Part L 2006
For England, Wales and Scotland the requirements laid out in 2006 have been superseded in 2010. However, the links below provide information for ongoing building work that is still adopting 2006 regulations. In the Republic of Ireland the 2006 requirements are still applicable – but are due to be changed in June 2011
2006 U Values - England & Wales
2006 U Values - Scotland, Scottish Building Standards
2006 U Values Republic of Ireland, Part L technical guidance document
Sustainability and zero carbon measures
Code for Sustainable Homes and zero carbon building
This code ensures that new homes deliver real improvements, with the ultimate aim of moving towards low and zero carbon homes. New developments are assessed in several key areas and assigned a performance measure of one to six, where level six is zero carbon, indicating that the design incorporates high levels of energy efficiency in the fabric of the building.
Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes
BREEAM
BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) addresses environmental and sustainability issues - and enables developers and designers to prove the environmental credentials of their buildings to planners and clients. It is the leading environmental assessment method for buildings, covering a number of elements, not just the materials used.
BREEAM website
PassivHaus low-energy design
PassivHaus dwellings (common to some parts of Europe for a number of years) typically achieve an energy saving of 90% compared to traditional housing. The European Union plans to make PassivHaus and other extremely low-energy homes widespread by 2016, while the UK is working to introduce the even more challenging standard of zero carbon houses.
PassivHaus website
