The Building Regs 2010 Section Part L1B deals with solid wall homes and the legal obligation to include insulation when carrying out work on external walls.

This has led to a lot of confusion amongst home-owners and sad to say, certain ill-informed builders and wall coating companies so the summary below should be helpful.

Rendering Exterior Walls

If your home has cavity walls that are insulated or has a wide enough cavity to be injected then you can re-render without using an external insulation system. Similarly, if your home is brick or stone then again you can have the walls rendered – be that tyrolean,pebble dash, stucco or flat cement render – without insulating and without informing Building Control.

HOWEVER, if your walls are of  solid construction or have a cavity too narrow to inject then you cannot apply any wall rendering or cladding  without first applying to Building Control on a Building Notice.

Unless you are in a conservation area or are a listed property then the odds are very strong that the Building Inspector will insist you  have to add a thermal insulation layer  to your walls before any rendering is applied.

For more information on whether you fall under Building Regs L1B and what this entails call one of our advisors now on 0500 300407 or alternatively click external wall insulation  

 

Masonry Wall Paints & Wall Coatings

On solid wall homes for purely decorative finishes that involve only a thin coating of masonry paint, and perhaps some very minor repairs to any damaged rendering, there is no need to comply with the Building Regs or inform Building Control.

This is because masonry paints are not classed as adding an additional layer to the wall as they are so thin and add no measurable insulation value to the wall.

BE VERY CAREFUL though if any wall coating company suggest removing an existing poor render or adding a base render for the first time eg on a brick property. In either of these events you must inform Building Control and will probably have to use insulated rendering

For repairs to damaged render the rules are if at least 50% of any single wall needs repairs before the masonry coat is applied you must use an insulated render and abide by Building Regs.

Part L1B  – Who is responsible for complying ?

Since an amendment to the rules in October 2010 the builder/installer now has primary responsibility for meeting the Regulations and the home-owner will only be pursued as a secondary measure if the builder etc cannot be traced. Previously the home-owner had sole responsibility but now the Builder and also the architect has to take responsibility.

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