Simplifying and demystifying Part L

With comments such as: ‘Having the right supply chain partner makes an ‘L’ of a difference’, ‘A great effort by the Aluk team to put together all this vital information’ and ’All very clear and informative – looking forward to the next stages of development’, Aluk says that its Building Regulation forums ‘clearly struck the right note’ with the dozens of customers who attended.

Aluk hosted three events in Chepstow, London, and Leeds that were designed to give its fabrication partners a clear and straightforward overview of what the changes to Document L will mean for their businesses.

Crucially, the team also outlined exactly what Aluk is doing with its products to ensure that customers can comply with these changes in time for the June 2022 deadline.

These were just the first phase in Aluk’s response to Part L and there will be further customer forums held in May to give final details on the product enhancements and updates on timings, part numbers, order forms and marketing support.

Michael Williams, Aluk’s managing director, explained that the company is taking a very different approach to the Part L challenge to some of its competitors: “We’re not advising customers to use triple glazing to meet the new rules with existing products as some suppliers are, or suggesting that they can rely on specifiers to offset higher window and door U-Values against better performing elements in their SAP Calculations.

“Instead, we’re focusing on ‘Excellence in Engineering’. By the time the deadline comes around, our design and technical team will have redeveloped no fewer than eight of our products in just six months, which is truly outstanding. It means that, from June onwards, Aluk customers will have access to a full suite of products that comply with the new rules using double glazing as standard and with worst case scenario Uf-Values. They will also still be able to buy our existing products for projects which already have planning permission or Building Control approval and fall within the 12-month transition period.”

According to Aluk, its forums were aimed at ‘simplifying and demystifying’ the new Building Regulations and being ‘honest and transparent’ with customers about what compliance will mean for them in the real world.

Everyone who attended was given a document to take away which explained exactly what the new notional and limiting values are for both new and existing dwellings and new and existing non-dwellings. They were also given details of precisely how the Aluk products are being thermally enhanced to make sure they comply, and reassured that the aesthetics, fabrication, and tooling of these products will not change.

Aluk’s team was also able to answer all the questions fabricators had on the day about the changes, including how the transition period will work, how customers’ LogiKal processing software is being updated to include the product enhancements, how best to communicate with their installers about the fact that they are the ones who will have to demonstrate compliance, and how that compliance is likely to be policed.

Michael Williams added: “Aluk has been at the very heart of the industry’s response to Part L from the very beginning – from giving our feedback to the initial consultations, to having our representatives on the key committees with the likes of CAB, the GGF and the CWCT, and running communications programmes to keep the market updated.

“The whole industry is on a journey towards zero carbon homes and what’s become increasingly clear is that these changes to the Building Regs are just the first step on that journey. We all have to be engaged and ready for even bigger changes to come, so it was really good to see so many of our customers at the forums, all determined to stay ahead of the curve.”

Feedback from the customers at the London event included: ‘Incredibly useful information provided to keep us up to speed and learn what impacts this will have on us all’, ‘Bravo to all involved!’