An air tightness test or blower door test is used to calculate the uncontrolled air permeability of a dwelling through the building fabric. This is done by placing a large fan at the front door of the house & creating a pressure difference of 50 pascals to calculate the rate of permeability. A house with a low rate of Air permeability will be cheaper to run, and if the rate of air permeability is too high, (over 7 ach/hr) it will fail the air pressure test & then the house will not comply with building regulations. If a house fails, the assessor will be able to identify the problem on site.
An air tightness test is required for all new dwellings under technical guidance document part L 2011. For larger developments in a scheme all built with the same construction type & style, table four from Part L of the building regulations applies as seen below.
However, even in larger developments, it is common practice to have a test carried out on each property tor the following reasons:
Why choose Nationwide Energy Consultants
Nationwide Energy Consultants is certified by NSAI to carry out air pressure tests
All blower door tests are carried out in accordance with IS EN13829
When you are dealing with Nationwide Energy Consultants you have the experience of a whole team of experienced Building Surveyors who specialise in energy consultancy rather than just one person.
For individual job’s we travel to & regularly have assessors in the following areas:
Dublin (all areas), Kildare, Wicklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Carlingford, Ardee, Dunleer, Navan, Bettystown, Laytown, Athboy, Kells, Slane, Duleek, Ratoath, Trim, Summerhill, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, Ashbourne, Kingscourt, Carrickmacross
We also regularly travel further afield & have carried out tests in just about every townland in Ireland, but this would only be for a batch of properties or larger developments.