When constructing a dwelling in Ireland you first have to obtain Planning Permission from the relevant local authority.  Confusingly it was possible until recently to obtain Planning Permission on drawings submitted for approval which were not technically in compliance with parts of the Building Regulations.

This typically happened when for example the wheelchair accessibility requirement was not met or the angle of steepness of the stairs were not in conformity.  What has come into sharper focus recently is that any dwelling being built and regardless of when it was approved for Planning must comply with all parts of the 2011 Building Regulations.

If you take into account that the current Part (L) is some 60% more efficient that the 2005 regulations you will begin to appreciate that anyone building now has a far greater challenge.

However the resultant dwelling will be significantly more comfortable and use dramatically less energy.

The calculation to prove compliance with Part (L) is via the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) and clearly demonstrates compliance or not with the key principles.  At the end of the calculation we will prove compliance with the Renewables requirement as well as the increasingly important permissible Carbon and Energy co-efficients.

Therefore every calculation must look like this and have the 3 green ticks to prove all thresholds have been met.

At 2eva.ie we prepare a detailed report with a summary sheet on the first page to give the client an overview of the requirements need to build a compliant building and there is a further ca. 20 pages of technical information which can be provided to prospective builders/suppliers to show what u-values of floors, walls, windows, boiler efficiencies and a host of other information that has to be achieved.

As an independent consultant we work with our customers during the pre-construction and at construction stage as typically some change of material or supplier will be considered but it is imperative that any change be taken into account as this will effect the ultimate outcome.

There are some 75 inputs that we can take into account for the purpose of proving compliance and if any of them is changed a balancing calculation has to take place to offset that change.  There is no single item that will make a house compliant, rather it is the sum of all of the parts.

It is important to remember that every dwelling built has to be proven compliant, particularly in light of the introduction of the new Building Control Act in March 2014 and we can prove compliance on any new dwelling but it is too late and too expensive once the house is under construction to start making changes.

Contact us now before you start to build and let us save you time, money and hassle!