Air Tightness Testing
APT Sound Testing provides Air Tightness Testing throughout the United Kingdom. We undertake air testing on all types of projects from single dwelling to the largest commercial buildings. We are one of the few companies that are UKAS accredited to undertake both Air & Sound testing in compliance to Building Regulations and Standards.
Air, Sound and Air Tightness Packages
This means we can undertake Air, Sound and Vent Testing Packages during the same visit which provides our clients with cost savings and improved on site co-ordination. Unlike many companies we do not subcontract our works.
Air testing to achieve satisfactory levels of air tightness became a legal requirement in 2006 in England and Wales, under Building Regulations Part L and is becoming increasingly important to help produce greener buildings, via reducing carbon emissions due to the fact that energy is not being needlessly lost from residences via large air leakage paths etc. Building Regulation Part L defines ‘air leakage’ as the uncontrolled flow of air through gaps and cracks in the fabric of a building. The general public recognise it as draughts.
When you lose energy through the building fabric this is known as the building emission rate. New projects/developments must meet specific requirements for air testing and emission rates. The usual target for a standard dwelling is 5.0m3/hr/m2; however for commercial buildings the target rate is often much lower – around 3.0m3/hr/m2
Wherever air infiltration occurs, there is usually exfiltration somewhere else in the building. During the summer, infiltration can bring humid, outdoor air into buildings. In winter, exfiltration can result in moist indoor air moving into cold wall cavities and may result in condensation and mould and/or rot which could result in serious damage to the property.
We undertake air tightness consultancy and design reviews to help support our clients from the design stage of the project through to the precompletion air testing to achieve building control signoff. If you need to undertake your testing on Saturdays or Sundays, we offer an ‘out of hours testing’ service to help reduce the impact of testing during working hours.
We also offer substantial cost savings for combined air and sound testing packages. This is due to our multi skilled engineers being UKAS accredited to carry out the Air & Sound Testing, in fact most of our clients now use our ‘3 step’ precompletion package as it negates the need to employ multiple companies.
On site co-ordination is also improved, with both tests being undertaken on the same day in a planned methodical manner. We can also provide out of hours testing (if required) to help reduce the impact of testing during working hours.
We provide a friendly expert advice for helping properties achieve required emission rates for air testing. Simply the use our contact form on this page, or call our offices, to chat about your specific air testing requirements with our knowledgeable team of air tightness consultants.
We can help with your Air Tightness Testing
APT Sound Testing we have large amount of experience in understanding the requirements of Approved Document L, along with extensive experience of carrying out thousands of successful air tightness tests on a wide range of developments across London and the UK.
In order to achieve the required air tightness target (which is getting lower all the time) and to avoid the risk of a failed air tightness test, we strongly recommend that early consideration is given to the design of the air leakage line within your project.
By working with our customers throughout their design and construction stages, we can provide advice and guidance on the most feasible ways to avoid air leakage and attain compliance for the air tightness test. Please download our air tightness checklist to help you prepare for your test.
Call us to day at 01525 303905 or visit our services contact page and we will get back to you as as as we can.