This page was last updated September 2023
Building Regulations for England and Wales, through the Approved Document Part L (‘Conservation of Heat & Power’), stipulate the air tightness testing of buildings. Currently, this requirement exists in the three of the four Part L Approved Documents:
Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1: Dwellings, 2021 edition incorporating 2023 amendments
Applicable to new dwellings
Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings, 2021 edition incorporating 2023 amendments
Applicable to new non-dwellings and large extensions to non-dwellings.
Contains L2A and L2B
On each development, an air pressure test should be carried out on three units of each dwelling type or 50 per cent of all instances of that dwelling type, whichever is the less. For the purposes of Approved Document L1A, a block of flats should be treated as a separate development, irrespective of the number of blocks on the site. The dwelling(s) to be tested should be taken from the first completed batch of units of each dwelling type
Section 3.17
The specific dwellings making up the test sample should be selected by the Building Control Body in consultation with the pressure tester......
.....The results of all tests on dwellings in the sample should be reported to the Building Control Body, including any test failuresSection 3.18
When a dwelling fails the initial pressure test, other dwellings of the same dwelling type that have not been tested should be examined and, where appropriate, remedial measures applied
Section 3.21
Approved Document L1A is very specific about what a ‘dwelling type’ is.
Appendix A states:
“Dwelling type is the particular group allocated to each dwelling on a development to provide the basis for assessing the pressure testing regime. The allocation of each dwelling to a dwelling type should be the responsibility to the person carrying out the pressure testing.”
To be classed as a of the same type, dwellings should:
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