Part F covers a very important topic that’s overlooked: ventilation.
Good ventilation is critical for the health and wellbeing of a building’s occupants, while efficient ventilation is vital to regulate energy costs – something that’s especially important at the moment for obvious reasons. The right ventilation can:
To find out more, check out our blog post exploring how we can improve indoor air quality and create healthier spaces.
Under the revised Part F regulations, whole building ventilation needs to meet a standard of 10 litres of fresh air per person per second, or one litre per second per square metre – whichever is highest.
Common spaces also need natural ventilation, with openings at least 1/50th of the floor area, or mechanical ventilation to supply 0.5 litres of fresh air per second per m2 of the common floor space area.
Head to the official document for all the ventilation specifics
The changes to Part F also mean that for the first time, indoor air quality monitoring will be regulatory for the design and construction of non-domestic new builds in England. Specifically, the change means that CO2 will need to be continuously monitored.
The key aims include:
There are some specific requirements for the CO2 monitors themselves, which need to be:
The local authority has the power to prosecute, enforce an unlimited fine and can impose rectification of the work for up to two years following its completion.
And considering the fact that ventilation work happens during the early stages of construction, making adjustments following completion could end up being extremely costly.