Building regulations in the UK require an air pressure test for all new buildings, in order to be compliant. But what is an air pressure test and why is it necessary?
The reason concerns conversation of energy and heat. All new buildings whether they are domestic or commercial, need to ensure their energy performance is at a certain standard.
A building that ‘leaks’ too much energy and heat is inefficient. It will have a higher CO2 footprint and will be expensive to heat. A level of controlled ventilation is fine, however uncontrolled ventilation through leaks can cause problems with condensation and damp, and affect the lifetime of the property. It is therefore in everyone’s interest to check the energy performance of all new buildings, to see if they meet the building regulation standard. These will have a better environmental rating.
The specific standards are Part L1A and L2A (England & Wales), Section 6 (Scotland) or Part F1 (Northern Ireland) of The Building Regulations. Calculations such as Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculations or Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) should be looked at during the design stage, and then they can be verified once the build is complete.
This is where the air pressure test comes in. Air pressure tests are used to test ‘air permeability’ or ‘air leakage’ of a building. This is a straightforward way to verify whether the building meets the building regulation standards.
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