An informative history about how SAP and SBEM Calculations arrived as part of the Building Regulations today.
Finally, after months of preparations, the documents for your proposed extension and loft conversion have been submitted to your Local Authority and returned as approved however there is a strange condition written in small print on the planning approval: “A SAP Calculation demonstrating Part L Compliance must be submitted before any site works commence”. Or perhaps you’re at the end of your first new build project and the Building Control Inspector has his final inspection, is pleased with what he sees but then asks a perplexing question on his report: “Please provide your ‘As Built’ SAP Calculation so the building project can be signed off”.
Many an experienced reader may well have recollections (good or bad!) or scenarios like these. Put simply, we cannot build a property in the UK today without knowledge of and complying with the Building Regulations, and Part L is continuing to have a more and more influence within the Regulations. Just this week I have been working with a client who sadly ignored the ‘As Designed’ Sap Calculation to his detriment and is now having to carry out costly remedial works to bring his property towards compliance.
Where did Part L come from? Why are Building Control so focused on this area today? The evolving history of the British Building Regulations and how we arrived at a whole section dedicated to Energy Efficiency is certainly interesting, surprising and, at times, disappointing.
Early History of Part L
To see the beginning we need to look back in time. Quite a bit of time actually to nearly 1000 years ago, the 11th Century, London. Around this time is where we will find the earliest record of introduced ‘standards’ for the construction of a building in the UK. Why? Well, as London was quickly becoming densely populated, building construction was booming. Naturally, as your neighbour kindly erected a 3 storey dwelling next to your single storey dwelling thus blocking your precious sunlight, you could perhaps understand why there may have been grievances relating to property construction being settled legally. The natural effect of this was the introduction of certain parameters of construction- heights of the buildings, noise levels etc. etc. Basically, we could say it all started with very early versions of neighbour disagreements! Sound familiar?
Refinement through fire
Interestingly, one of the major regulations at that time which is still being refined today … you guessed it, is to do with fires and building safety. What was the principal roof construction in those early times? Thatched roofs. It was actually a fire relating to these that really caused the first major ban of a building material in the city of London but sadly, as we will read later, that ban wasn’t satisfactory.
Over time, other major cities around England began to see the benefit of adopting a similar methodology and introducing controls for property construction (with the added benefit of keeping the neighbour from clogging up the court houses!) and at this stage we could say we start to see a loosely national standard being applied, all be it just within the cities.
More Fires, more Refinements
One of the key dates that influenced Building Control history was September 2nd, 1666. A small fire broke out late at night in a London Bakers and we know the rest of the history as ‘The Great Fire of London’. Interestingly, like the large fire in the 1200’s, the construction of the buildings of that era contributed to the spread of the fire. The approved main construction method of buildings at that time were predominately Timber Frame. We still see some beautiful examples of these up and down the country, but understandably build a city of these in close proximity and there was a major fire hazard present, where unfortunately, when The Great Fire did break out it raged for nearly a week and many people lost their lives.
From that time forward, more stringent regulations were applied to construction materials. The focus still wasn’t on energy efficiency like we see today but rather on fire hazard reduction. Unfortunately, as approximately 80% of the buildings in London were lost to the Great Fire in 1666, we could say it was a closing the stable door after the horse had bolted, a hallmark sadly interwoven in Building Control History to our day (Think about the devastating effects of Asbestos-in use for construction up until the turn of the century in the UK and amazingly today still mined and utilised for construction in other areas of the world despite the known long term health dangers). Building in Timber Frame was subsequently outlawed, and the new ‘modern’ fire-safe build material of the time -stone or brick was the preferred choice. If you were a budding developer or a homeowner wanting to undertake an extension in those ages, that would be the material you would have had to build with and adapt your project to incorporate.
Gradual ascension to Law
Slowly, over the centuries many of these building controls were regulated into laws that went through parliament called ‘Building Acts’. What’s interesting to me is that the major refinements of these have generally been due to unforeseen circumstances. If only we could see what’s around the corner! For example, the outbreak of diseases such as TB and Cholera, partly due to poor building sanitation, led to the introduction of the Public Health Act, 1875. A current example of how we are still affected by unforeseen circumstances is the COVID 19 Pandemic. Who of us really forsaw the affect the Pandemic had on each of our lives? Yet think for a moment how that could now impact construction and the Building Regulations. Sanitation improvements in offices, design changes of houses relating to workers choosing the option to work from home, improved internet connections. All these areas will no doubt crop up as adaptions in the Building Regulations as a direct result of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
The Building Regulations are born
Finally, after many refinements of the Building Acts, in 1963, the first ‘Building Regulations’ as we are familiar with began. The Building Regulations as we know them today unfortunately aren’t largely influenced by innovative construction methods (see printed buildings!) or technological advances in materials, but rather the larger shifts in materials or methods are still influenced by the same human error factors or unforeseen issues that started the regulations journey nearly 1000 years ago. For example, the more recent terrible tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire in West London had a huge influence in overhauling fire regulations that apply to high rise buildings. The enquiry also delved into the responsibility construction companies and suppliers of building products have towards the construction and safety of buildings. Even basic human traits such as greed was discussed as an influencing factor to the fire (see Guardian Article “The Guardian view on lessons from Grenfell”). Perhaps the most powerful influence to the Building Regulations in our recent times is social and political pressure. Up until the not so distinct past, this has been compartmentalised into local or National influences, however today we see a powerful global influence. In what way?
The Global Movement that affected British Buildings
We are all familiar with the phrase ‘global warming’ or, as its more often referred to these days, ‘climate change’. Most scientists agree that the planet is being affected by the way humans live on it. In fact, after an in-depth report featuring 193 countries a recent ‘New York Times’ Article stated: “The planet is sending an SOS”. One key aspect Governments have chosen to focus on is their CO2 emissions. In 2015, Leaders form around the world met in Paris at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) with the goal of reducing these emissions.
As well as impacting other areas of our day to day living, this drive has also had a direct and powerful impact on our current Building Regulations. A major focus of the current regulations over the last decade or so has been to reduce the UK buildings CO2 emissions, both for existing and planned buildings. For new buildings or extensions this is addressed though ‘Part L’ of the Building Regulations and SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) is the approved assessment tool used to compare a planned or newly built domestic building to the standards set out in Part L; while SBEM (Simplified Building Energy Model) is the tool used to assess non-domestic Buildings. Existing buildings currently use a simplified version of SAP called rdSAP (Reduced Data SAP), however at the time of writing rdSAP is still behind the current regulations and hasn’t implemented the new changes seen in SAP (It all costs money to make changes, and these can be slow, especially when the money is from taxes!). Incidentally, you can read more about the detailed changes in SAP and SBEM on my website by clicking on this link.
The big question is though: Like the changes implemented after the Great Fire of London in 1666, could this evasive action be too little too late? We certainly hope not because the implications stretch far further than a city.
The Future
We understand that some of the recent changes, especially those implemented since June 15th, 2022 have led to some frustration for Builders, Architects and Assessors alike. We have heard your concerns, and you are correct, we also feel there are areas that can still be streamlined and improved. We also understand your frustration: one day gas is the preferred and rewarded power source option in SAP Calculations, then overnight allegiance is switched to electricity, which was previously the black sheep of the energy world. A designers and suppliers nightmare! Its good however, to take a step back and see where we fit into the evolving history of the Building Regulations. Remember these are the Interim Regulations, and we expect further changes to these over the next couple of years.
Perhaps these recently implemented changes have been some of the most challenging to implement of recent times. Remember too that these could also be the most important -as not only do they mean the safety of those living in or around the buildings being constructed, if correctly applied, collectively they could mean benefiting the lives of every single person on the planet. And not just those living today, but all those yet to be born on the wonderful planet we call home, earth.
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