RICS warns of Part L chaos as industry tries to get up to speed

The RICS has warned of Part L confusion as ill-prepared designers struggle to meet tough energy standards.

The revised Part L of the Building Regulations comes into force on 6 April. However, the final version of the updated regulation was only revealed on 16 March, leaving building professionals just three weeks to get up to speed.

The regulation says buildings must be 20% more energy efficient than the last version of Part L launched in 2002.

Martin Russell-Croucher, RICS director of certification and accreditation, said projects are set to be subject to more adjustments down the line because buildings will be tested for energy efficiency once built.

He warned this will highlight more problems at a later date, meaning there will be "a lot more estimating" until designers get used to the new Part L.

Russell-Croucher added that the new Part L is a "radical change, even on the last version in 2002" and said it would cause disruption as designers get their heads around thinking about energy efficiency in terms of the whole building, rather than individual elements like walls, ceilings and roofing.

There’ll be arguments with designers saying, ‘it’s designed well but it’s the way you built it’

Martin Russell-Croucher, director of certification, RICS

Pressure-testing buildings after they are built is also likely to cause arguments between contractors and designers.

Russell-Croucher said: "You can design a building very well but it still won't meet the standards if it's not built properly. There'll be arguments with designers saying, ‘it's designed well but it's the way you built it' and the other way round."

Mike Jewell, director at MDA Consulting, said he doesn't think changes to Part L will be a "huge problem" but added that regulations needed to look at other ways to promote energy efficiency.

Part L's tough energy efficiency targets are also set to increase the importance of microgeneration technology in reducing carbon emissions. This means QSs will have to get familiar giving estimates for equipment including solar panels, ground source heat pumps and solar hot water systems.