Welsh Government releases Approved Documents L and F for Consultation

Welsh Government releases Approved Documents L and F for Consultation

The Welsh Government has published Consultation Documents in regard to the revision of both Approved Documents L & F – Existing Dwellings & non-Domestic, although there is further documentation to follow on non-Domestic.

The GGF Technical department has quickly reviewed the 6 documents within the Consultation and will provide more detailed information to the Members once the documents have been fully received and reviewed.

Here is a summary of the proposals the GGF Technical team has identified so far.

Approved Documents L and F timelines

Dwellings

• Spring 2021 new documents for Part L and Part F to be published
• Autumn 2021 legislation to come into force

Non dwellings

• Autumn 2021 new documents for Part L and Part F to be published
• Early 2022 legislation to come into force

Energy Ratings and U Values

Approved Document L : Dwellings (New, replacement or enlarged windows and doors) The proposed changes detailed in Table 10.1 of the proposal include window and door U value reduction to 1.4 down from the current 1.6, and WER B down from the current WER C. The DSER value has yet to be proposed.

Decorative furniture in glass can still be disregarded when calculating U values or energy ratings.

Approved Document F : Existing dwellings. Proposals include the introduction of Table 3.1 that shows that works will be allocated one of two classifications, minor or major.

Changing less than 30% of the total existing windows is classified as minor, more than 30% is classified as major.

Diagram 3.1 allows for a calculation of the overall works and gives a category rating of either A, B or C.

• Category A – Unlikely that the work has reduced the ventilation provision of the dwelling below the requirements of AD F1, no further ventilation required.
• Category B – Likely the work has reduced the ventilation provision of the dwelling below the requirements of AD F1, more ventilation may be required.
• Category C – Very likely the work has significantly reduced the ventilation provision of the dwelling below the requirements of AD F1, more ventilation may be required.

Replacing windows

• If an existing window has one or more background ventilators, the replacement should also include them. They must be no smaller and must be controllable
• If the existing ventilator size is not known then
• habitable rooms require minimum 8000mm equivalent area (ea)
• Kitchens require minimum 8000mm ea
• Bathrooms require minimum 4000mm ea

There are further guidance notes for dwellings with mechanical extract and mechanical supply and extract included in 3.14 of AD F1 (proposed)

Members can download these documents for their own review using the following link https://gov.wales/building-regulations-part-l-and-f-review-stage-2a