Does anyone know what the regs/common practice were like back in 2000 in relation to new builds and insulation? I'm looking at a place which was built in 2000 and just wanted to be aware as to what sort of level of insualtion should be expected?
New build insulation regs from 2000
- Thread starter Gammawolf
- Start date
Hi pal, not too sure about the exact regs but I do know that the building regs were altered in 2000 so in all probability your house will have been built to the older standard pre 2000, as the builder would have been tied to the previous regs when he put planning permission in.
That means probably no cavity wall insulation as that was introduced in 2000 but you should have loft insulation to 2 inch thick, which is acceptable to current standards.
I know from experience as I bought my house back in 2000, and we've just had a 2 storey extension done, when they broke through definitely no cavity insulation. When they came round for a free assessment on the green initiative they said I wasn't allowed free loft insulation as mine was of an acceptable depth.
Hope that helps.
That means probably no cavity wall insulation as that was introduced in 2000 but you should have loft insulation to 2 inch thick, which is acceptable to current standards.
I know from experience as I bought my house back in 2000, and we've just had a 2 storey extension done, when they broke through definitely no cavity insulation. When they came round for a free assessment on the green initiative they said I wasn't allowed free loft insulation as mine was of an acceptable depth.
Hope that helps.
Building Regs compliance is tied to the date of the initial Building Regs application, not the planning permission application. While the dates could be the same, in practice, they rarely are.
I *think* the last major change to the insulation U-values in Part L was in 2002.
Cavity wall insulation was introduced long before 2000. 0.45 U-value was certainly a well established requirement when I started work for a building company in 1995.
Unless you have some seriously super spec loft insulation, you'll need more than 2 inches of it to get down to the required U-value. Glass fibre insulation now needs the depth of the trusses plus an additional layer laid across the top of the trusses to meet current Building Regs. Off the top of my head, it'll need to be 9 or 12 inches thick to meet current Building Regs; foam board probably won't need to be as thick.
Sounds like someone managed to pull a fast one on the building inspector with your house, unless its construction pre-dates the insulation requirements... which if it was new-build in 2000 it certainly wouldn't do.
As I stated I don't know much about the regulations, all I was saying was just because it was built in 2000 doesn't mean that it was built to the specs from 2000, they could have pre-dated them if the building regs and plans were applied for together, which one would assume they would be.
To say that cavity wall insulation was mandatory is misinformation after looking at Part L it is just a figure of heat loss for the given building so back in the 90's it could quite conceivable be that a cavity without insulation could pass those standards at that time.
As for the loft insulation I was unclear, it is at least 2 inches above the joists which are in-filled with Rockwool already.
Thanks all for the input! Interestingly we visited the place and the owner (since 2006) said when he had a new gas fire put in the walls were filled with ball insulation which of course leads me to believe that it was done post build.. It's a 3 story house with the bottom story back wall + half of the side walls underground. So i'm a bit weary of cavity insulation bridging water across if the house wasn't designed around this..
