Local authorities across the UK use SAP Assessments to demonstrate compliance with energy efficiency standards in buildings.
The targets within England and Wales may appear identical but there are important differences.
So what’s the difference between SAP Assessment in England and Wales?
For New Build dwellings, the guidance for England is given in the latest Part L 2013 document (Approved Document L1A, 2013 Edition).
Wales meanwhile follows Approved Document L1A, 2014 Edition (For Use in Wales) – see References 1) and 2). These are broadly the same but some differences exist in how your SAP Assessment demonstrates compliance. These can be summarized as follows:
No Fabric Standard
The stand out from the table above is the lack of a ‘fabric energy efficiency standard‘. The England regs introduced this in the last round of Part L changes and sets a minimum performance standard for the fabric – this is largely impacted by the performance of walls, floors, roofs, openings, thermal bridging and air tightness.
Although the Welsh regs do not measure against this pass or fail standard, they have set lower (tougher) limits on area weighted u values instead – in very simplistic terms, walls built in England can in theory perform worse than those in Wales.
Need Help with SAP Assessments in Wales?
BE carries out SAP Assessments all over the UK – just give us a call, or send us your plans – we’ll talk you through the process and provide an instant fee quote.
References:
- http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_AD_L1A_2013.pdf
- http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_pdf_AD_L1A_2014_Wales.pdf
- http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/SAP/2012/SAP-2012_9-92.pdf
