In April 2006 the Building Regulations were amended to include a section on Conservation of Energy and Fuel under Part L1B which was designed to compel homeowners to include insulation in walls, roofs and floors where existing insulation was nil or inadequate at such time as any renovation or repair work is carried out.

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The regulation concerning walls is that if an external wall has a U value – thermal efficiency – higher than 0.7 then insulation has to be used when removing, replacing or adding a layer to the wall unless a very good technical or economic reason makes this impossible to do. The target to try and achieve is 0.35 U value and an existing 9 inch solid wall is rated as 2.05 U value ie a 75% plus reduction in heat loss is being targeted.

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Therefore when replacing old render or pebbledash on the exterior of the wall or adding  a render for the first time a solid wall insulation system must be used at the same time . This can be external or internal but to comply with the Regulations internally is very disruptive and costly especially as the “whole of the wall ” must be covered with no thermal bridging allowed.

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Therefore it is far easier and ultimately cheaper to externally clad the wall from top to bottom in a layer of insulation before covering the insulation slabs in a weatherproof and maintenance free rendered or brick finish.

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These systems are all accredited and are checked and signed off by local Building Inspectors whilst the work is being carried out and the homeowner receives a Building Regs Completion Certificate at satisfactory completion of the work.

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