In most installations, compliance with Part F of Building Regulations will require trickle vents to be installed. Owen Coop, CEO of Carl F Groupco, looks at how failing to fit them makes installations non-compliant and leaves businesses at risk.
In most installations, compliance with Part F of Building Regulations will require trickle vents to be installed. Owen Coop, CEO of Carl F Groupco, looks at how failing to fit them makes installations non-compliant and leaves businesses at risk.
A recent report from RISA, which inspects window and door installations for compliance with Building Regulations and FENSA requirements, makes for frightening reading.
The organisation reports that over a quarter of inspection failures are due to non-compliance with Document F of Building Regulations, which covers ventilation requirements.
To recap, Part F requires ventilation through natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation or a combination of both. The regulations apply to new builds and extensions, when you are replacing more than 30% of glazing and, in some instances, when you are replacing less than 30% of glazing. As the industry has always noted, trickle vents are the most cost-effective and least disruptive way to achieve compliance in most cases.
However, RISA reports instances of signed disclaimers being provided as a means of avoiding fitting trickle vents.
But it’s very clear that these disclaimers are not valid. When the regulations came into force, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said:
“A disclaimer signed by the homeowner stating that they do not wish to have background ventilators or that they will be installed in future is not a suitable way of complying with the Building Regulations. Work must comply with the Building Regulations and competent person schemes must monitor their registrants and take action against any registrant who is found to have carried out non-compliant work.”
The Departments also add:
“Purchasing an indemnity policy is also not a suitable alternative to meeting the requirements of the Building Regulations in full.”
To reiterate, disclaimers and indemnity policies are not a valid way to provide compliance. If they are used, installations will be non-compliant and installers put their businesses at real risk if they use them.
This isn’t alarmist by any means. In the past, non-compliance might have been seen as a risk worth taking. That’s no longer the case. Local Authority Building Control (LABC) requires confirmation that each building complies, so there’s nowhere to hide.
Concerns around trickle vents typically fall into two categories: the effect on U values (and therefore compliance with Part L relating to thermal efficiency) and the aesthetics.
In terms of U values, it’s important to know that trickle vents have very little impact on them. In terms of aesthetics, there are many options on the market to ease concerns.
For example, our trickle vent range includes the popular Glazpart Link Vent MK II, as well as options from Yale and Greenwood. There’s also the Acoustic ventilator range from RW Simon Ltd, which offers an aesthetically pleasing means of complying with both Part F and Part E (resistance to sound).
We’re also on hand to provide as much technical support as is needed to ensure compliance. Our team is highly knowledgeable and experienced so we can offer the guidance, input and advice you need to meet your obligations.
In other words, we’re here to be the hardware partner your business needs when it comes to regulatory compliance. And with our core principles of product quality, first class service and industry knowledge, regulatory compliance is just the start of what we can offer.