Approved Document F

The first set of national building standards was introduced in 1965. Now known as the building regulations, they set out:

• What qualifies as 'building work' and so fall under the control of the regulations.
• What types of buildings are exempt (such as temporary buildings).
• The notification procedures that must be followed when starting, carrying out, and completing building work.
• Requirements for specific aspects of building design and construction.

The 'approved documents' provide guidance for how the building regulations can be satisfied in common building situations. There is no obligation to adopt the solutions presented in the approved documents, the building regulations can be satisfied in other ways.

Approved Document F: Ventilation, was last published in 2015.

It includes standards for ventilation and air quality for all buildings. It also covers requirements for the prevention of condensation. The types of ventilation covered includes, mechanical, passive stack, background and purge (rapid).

The content of the Approved Document includes:

• Section 4: Introduction to the provisions – Includes guidance on performance, the purpose and types of ventilation, ventilation strategy, control of ventilation, installation, fire precautions, and so on.
• Section 5: New dwellings – Includes guidance on ventilation rates, ventilation systems for dwellings with and without basements, and so on.
• Section 6: New buildings other than dwellings – Includes guidance on maintenance access, offices, car parks, and so on.
• Section 7: Work on existing buildings – Includes guidance on adding habitable rooms, wet rooms, conservatory, kitchen or bathroom.
• Section 8: Standards and other publications.
• Annex A: Performance-based ventilation.
• Annex B: Purge ventilation.
• Annex C: Example calculations for ventilation sizings for dwellings.
• Annex D: Minimising ingress of external pollution into buildings in urban areas.

It is supported by the Domestic Ventilation Compliance Guide, which provides detailed guidance about the installation, inspection, testing, commissioning and provision of information when installing fixed ventilation systems in new and existing dwellings.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Approved documents.
• Approved Document C.
• Approved Document J.
• Building Regulations.
• Condensation.
• Cross ventilation.
• Humidity.
• Mechanical ventilation.
• Thermal comfort.
• Ventilation.
• Weather louvres can combat and complement the effects of climate change.
• Whole building ventilation.