How-To & DIY
221 sources in the library on how-to & diy. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 4 of 6.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT. BS 1202-1:2002 was published 7 February 2002 under committee B/518, ISBN 0 580 37316 9, and specifies the requirements, including dimensions and finish, for steel nails. It divides them into wire nails, of which it lists 14 types from convex head roofing nails to duplex head nails with round, square, annular ringed and helical threaded shanks and chisel or diamond points, and cut nails, of which it lists two types, cut clasp nails and cut floor brads. This is the standard behind a specification such as galvanised round wire nails to BS 1202-1, and it is the reference used when BS 5534 calls up nail types for tile and slate fixing. Parts 2 and 3 (both 1974) cover copper nails and aluminium nails. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status, committee and the type lists; dimensional tables are paywalled.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: WITHDRAWN on 1 January 2005. BS 4721:1981 was published 31 July 1981 and specified pre blended ready mixed building mortars, covering composition, properties and quality requirements for cement, lime, sand and aggregate based mortar products. It was superseded by the European mortar standards, principally BS EN 998-2 for masonry mortar and BS EN 998-1 for rendering and plastering mortar, with mortar designations moving from the old roman numeral mixes (i to v) to the M classes (M2, M4, M6, M12) by compressive strength. A note that cites BS 4721 for a bagged or silo mortar, or that gives a mortar designation without saying which system it belongs to, is working from a standard withdrawn over twenty years ago. Catalogue page confirms number, title, publication date, withdrawal date and scope but does not name the replacement.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT. BS 6172:2010+A1:2017 was published 31 July 2017 and supersedes BS 6172:2010, which superseded BS 6172:2004 and BS 6172:1990. It specifies requirements for the safe installation, servicing and maintenance of domestic gas cooking appliances, with installation defined to include design, inspection and commissioning, and it applies to new, previously used and second hand appliances in dwellings, leisure accommodation vehicles, residential park homes and permanently moored boats, but not towed or motorised caravans. The A1:2017 amendment reflects European changes allowing gas cooker hoses and sockets to BS EN 14800 and gas hose connection valves to BS EN 15069. This is the standard behind a kitchen note's statement that a gas hob or cooker must be connected by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and it works with BS 5440-2 for ventilation. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status, supersession and scope.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: WITHDRAWN on 27 March 2025, superseded by BS 7533-102:2025. BS 7533-3:2005+A1:2009 was published 20 October 2005 and gave the recommendations for constructing flexible pavements using precast concrete blocks to BS EN 1338 and clay pavers to BS EN 1344, for roads, industrial areas and other paved surfaces under all categories of static and vehicular loading and pedestrian traffic, covering both conventional and permeable construction. It is the standard behind the laying course depth, jointing and compaction advice in every block paving driveway note, so the March 2025 withdrawal is a live correction: those notes should now cite BS 7533-102:2025 for installation and BS 7533-101:2021 for structural design. Catalogue page confirms number, title, publication date, withdrawal date and scope.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: WITHDRAWN on 1 March 2005. BS 8301:1985 was published 30 April 1985 and was the code of practice for building drainage, covering sewers, drain pipes, manholes, pipe laying, foul and surface water drainage, hydraulic testing and maintenance. It was superseded by the BS EN 752 series, Drain and sewer systems outside buildings, with BS EN 12056 covering gravity drainage inside buildings and BS 8000-14 the workmanship for below ground drainage; Approved Document H is the regulatory route in England. A note citing BS 8301 for gradients, manhole spacing or soakaway design is quoting a standard withdrawn over twenty years ago. Catalogue page confirms number, title, publication date, withdrawal date and scope but does not name the replacement.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT, and it is a Designated Standard. BS EN 12380:2002 was published 17 December 2002, identical to EN 12380:2002, ISBN 0 580 40973 2, committee B/505, ICS 23.060.99 and 91.140.80. It specifies the requirements, test methods and evaluation of conformity for air admittance valves in drainage systems, the one way valves (often called by the trade name Durgo valve) that admit air to relieve negative pressure in a soil stack without letting foul air out, so a stack can be terminated internally rather than taken up through the roof. It is the standard to cite when a note explains that an AAV is acceptable for a new en suite or a relocated WC subject to Approved Document H, and that at least one stack on a drainage system must still be open to atmosphere. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status, ISBN, committee and scope; the tests are paywalled.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT. BS EN 13126-1:2022 was published 31 March 2022 and supersedes BS EN 13126-1:2011, which is withdrawn, so a note citing the 2011 part is citing a withdrawn edition. It gives the requirements and test methods common to all types of hardware for windows and door height windows, covering strength, durability, corrosion resistance and safety, and it applies whatever the window frame material. It excludes fusible links, pneumatic and hydraulic operating mechanisms, single axis hinges (BS EN 1935), sliding door hardware (BS EN 1527) and door and window bolts (BS EN 12051). It is part one of a large series whose other parts cover specific hardware: -5 opening restrictors, -6 stay hinges, -8 tilt and turn handles, -13 sash balances, -16 lift and slide, -17 tilt and slide. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status, supersession and scope.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT (marked Under Review). BS EN 204:2016 was published 31 August 2016 and supersedes BS EN 204:2001. It classifies thermoplastic resin based wood adhesives for non structural use into four durability classes, D1 to D4, by the strength of the bond line under specified test conditions, and it applies to adhesives for bonding furniture and interior structures, panelling, doors, windows and stairs made of wood or wood based products. The class is the practical point for a note: D1 is dry interior use only, D2 occasional short term dampness, D3 frequent dampness or exterior sheltered use, D4 frequent severe exposure. It does not cover temperature resistance of the bond line, and it is not a structural adhesive standard (that is BS EN 301 and BS EN 15425). The 2016 revision removed the thick bond line test references and moved assessment to 20 test pieces. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status, the D1 to D4 classes and scope.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
The standard behind the use class numbers printed on treated timber, which is what a decking, fencing or timber decay note should cite when it says the timber must be right for its exposure. BS EN 335:2013 is the UK implementation of EN 335:2013, published 30 April 2013 under committee B/515 Wood preservation, ISBN 978 0 580 75630 6, ICS 71.100.50 and 79.040, and it superseded and withdrew BS EN 335-1:2006, BS EN 335-2:2006 and BS EN 335-3:1996. Clause 4 defines the use classes and their application: Use Class 1, then Use Class 2, then Use Class 3 with sub-classes 3.1 and 3.2, and higher classes for ground and water contact. In practice a deck board or fence rail above ground is a UC3 item and a fence post or deck joist in soil contact is UC4, so a note that specifies treated timber without naming the use class has not specified anything. The standard is currently Under Review.
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BSI (British Standards Institution)
STATUS: CURRENT (marked Under Review). BS EN 459-1:2015 was published 30 April 2015 and supersedes BS EN 459-1:2010, which superseded BS EN 459-1:2001. It defines the types of building lime and their classification and sets the chemical and physical requirements and conformity criteria for each. Building lime falls into two families: air lime (which sets by carbonation) and lime with hydraulic properties (which sets by hydration and is classified by mechanical compressive strength), the latter covering natural hydraulic lime, formulated lime and hydraulic lime with the assessment and verification of constancy of performance rules for each. It applies to lime for mortar, for calcium silicate bricks, autoclaved aerated concrete and concrete, and for civil engineering. This is the standard behind the NHL 2, NHL 3.5 and NHL 5 designations quoted in lime mortar and lime plaster notes; terms of delivery and contract conditions are outside its scope. Parts 2 (test methods, 2021) and 3 (conformity evaluation, 2015) complete the series. Catalogue page confirms number, title, date, status and scope; the class tables are paywalled.
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Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
The design guide a heating engineer sizes a domestic system from, and the right citation for any note about radiator or cylinder sizing. Publisher CIBSE, status Active, 415 pages, publication date January 2026, ISBN 9781918034196, priced GBP 45 plus VAT for the book and GBP 60 plus VAT for the PDF at standard rate, so the text itself is paywalled and only the catalogue page is public. The catalogue page confirms what the 2026 edition changed: heat loss assessment now follows the BS EN 12831-1:2017 method, domestic hot water cylinder sizing follows BS EN 12831-3:2017 including sizing for storage below 60 degrees C and a thermal disinfection procedure, U-value tables have been updated for modern construction methods, and the latest CIBSE weather data is used with 28 zones and four outdoor design temperatures. It also introduces a System Criteria Document recording design decisions and client and designer sign-off, explicitly in line with the Building Safety Act, plus a new controls section and expanded hydraulic and system configurations. Note the versioning trap: version 2026-02 published in July 2026 supersedes version 2026-01, and CIBSE advises reading the accompanying corrigendum alongside the guide.
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CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association)
The reference work behind every soakaway, permeable driveway and garden drainage decision in the UK, and the document local authority drainage officers work from. CIRIA C753, The SuDS Manual, published December 2015, 964 pages in PDF, ISBN 978-0-86017-759-3, authors Woods Ballard, Wilson, Udale-Clarke, Illman, Scott, Ashley and Kellagher. It is free to CIRIA members and GBP 25 excluding VAT to non-members, so the full text is behind a login but the catalogue page confirms scope and status. It replaced the 2007 SuDS Manual (C697), and the page states expressly that in delivering SuDS there is a requirement to meet the framework set out by the government non-statutory technical standards, which C753 complements while going further to support cost-effective delivery of multiple benefits. It covers planning, design, construction, management and maintenance of SuDS. Cite it as the technical authority when a note explains why a permeable or drained-to-a-soakaway driveway avoids the planning consequence of an impermeable one.
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PASMA (Prefabricated Access Suppliers' and Manufacturers' Association)
The body a note should name when it suggests hiring a tower rather than working off a ladder, and the source for what competence on one actually means. PASMA describes itself as the international not-for-profit association for the mobile access tower industry, representing manufacturers, suppliers, specifiers and users, providing and overseeing the industry standard training scheme and publishing safety guidance. It names EN 1004 as the design standard for towers and podiums, with a revision FAQ, and BS 1139-6 as a further design standard. It publishes the PASMA Operator's Code of Practice along with toolbox talks, safety videos and instruction manuals. Its training covers tower operatives for standard towers, stairway towers, cantilever, linked towers, bridges and large deck configurations, plus low-level access equipment, managers, instructors and work-at-height novices, and it issues PASMA Cards with an online verification system so a duty holder can check a card. A hire company will normally ask for a PASMA card before releasing a tower.
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The Concrete Society
The index to the Concrete Society technical library and the place to check a concrete claim against an industry-independent source. Four publication families are listed: Technical Reports giving in-depth guidance on design, construction, maintenance and innovation (for example TR43, Post-tensioned concrete floors design handbook, at GBP 85 full price and GBP 51 to members, and Discussion Document DD51 on calcined clay as a supplementary cementitious material, free to all); Good Concrete Guides on practical aspects (GCG8, Concrete practice, and GCG11, Digital monitoring and measurement of fresh concrete); Advice Sheets on specific topics such as no-fines concrete and brushed and tamped surface finishes; and Fingertips, short free reference pages covering masonry densities, cold joints, consistence tolerance and the slump test, floated and trowelled finishes, core testing for compressive strength, delamination of concrete floor surfaces and hot weather concreting. The Society also runs an advisory service of engineers and concrete technologists giving impartial advice to members, including desk studies and site visits. The Fingertips pages are the freely readable part and carry real figures; the Technical Reports are mostly paid.
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The Concrete Society
A free, citable data sheet giving the density ranges a note needs when explaining block types or estimating dead load. Published 3 June 2025 and filed under Buildings, Domestic (low rise). Dense aggregate blocks have a density in the range 1,800 to 2,100 kg/m3. Lightweight aggregate blocks, also called medium dense, are in the range 650 to 1,500 kg/m3. Aircrete blocks are in the range 400 to 900 kg/m3. Concrete bricks are 1,900 to 2,100 kg/m3 for Commons, Facing and Engineering quality, and 1,400 kg/m3 for lightweight bricks. The sheet points onward to the Concrete Block Association and the Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Products Association for more detail.
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Timber Decking and Cladding Association
The NHBC-referenced code that fixes decking component sizes, and the source for joist spacing figures. It was produced to meet the installation and performance requirements specified in NHBC home building standards. Section 3.7 gives a recommended processed joist size of 170mm x 44mm or larger installed at 300mm to 600mm centres, and advises increasing the frequency of support joists rather than the thickness; Table 4 gives maximum joist clear spans at 400mm centres. Joists may be cantilevered over a beam by up to 30 per cent of their permissible clear span, and beams may extend beyond a column centreline by up to 30 per cent of clear span (Tables 3.1 and 3.2 give double and single member beam spans). Wall plates or ledger boards must be equal to or greater than the joist size. Timber must be strength class C16 or C24, with preservative treatment to EN 335 Use Class 4 for posts out of ground contact, beams, wall plates and joists (Component Group A), and Use Class 3 or better for stair stringers, deck boards and balustrades (Component Group B). Guarding is designed to BS 6180:2011 with loadings from BS EN 1991-1-1. It notes a distinction in service life expectation for decks less than 600mm high.
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Bat Conservation Trust
How to keep a roost usable after roof works. Access gaps for the small building dwelling species are very small, since those bats land on the building and crawl in, and are usually invisible on the finished building; horseshoe bats are the exception and need a larger letterbox style opening sized to the species, because they fly straight in. Access should normally be recreated as close as possible to its original position so the bats return. Practical detail for tiled and slated roofs: raise a tile slightly on a timber batten or a small piece of tile, and where needed cut a hole in the roofing felt directly beneath the access point, or make a Morris bat slate from spare lead flashing, which is cheap and can be done in house. Access can normally be formed without letting in weather or spoiling the appearance.
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Cadent Gas
The exact trench a homeowner or builder must dig if they take the self-excavation option on a gas alteration, which is how the cost is reduced. Customers may only excavate on their own private land, Cadent excavates public highways, roads and footpaths, and self-excavation is not available to owners of flats, maisonettes or other shared residency buildings. The trench runs from the property wall at the new meter position and terminates 1m from the existing live gas service pipe inside the boundary. Dimensions: depth 425mm (17 inches), width between 200 and 300mm, bottom level and free of sharp or stony material, and in stony ground dig a further 75mm (3 inches) and backfill with fine material such as sand or stone dust to bed the pipe. Separation: gas pipes must be laid a minimum of 300mm (12 inches) from electricity cables and 250mm (10 inches) from other services. Changes of direction must be at 90 degrees with enough room for the bend: minimum bend radius 0.3m for 20mm pipe, 0.4m for 25mm, 0.5m for 32mm and 1.0m for 63mm. Gas marker tape must be laid a minimum of 75mm above the duct during backfill. Safe digging must follow HSE HSG47, Avoiding danger from underground services, and Cadent surveys the site first so no excavation should start before that.
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Cadent Gas
What is and is not allowed over a gas easement, and what to do after a strike. Normal cultivation including ploughing to a maximum depth of 0.5m is permitted without further reference; anything deeper, including sinking fence and gate posts to a depth greater than 0.5m, requires contacting Cadent first, as does storing material above the pipeline or planting trees and shrubs on the easement. Enquiries go through the LinesearchbeforeUdig online service, which returns results within minutes from a grid reference or postcode and issues asset plans plus the Specification for Safe Working in the vicinity of Cadent assets; where the work is close, a Cadent technician visits site to locate and mark out the pipeline. Emergency procedure after damage: call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999, remove and extinguish potential ignition sources, evacuate all personnel from the area and ensure nobody approaches the asset. Specific higher-risk activities that always need Cadent's own guidance and safe working distances include explosives and blasting, piling, boring, construction, demolition and deep excavation.
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Cadent Gas
The homeowner emergency procedure and who pays. If you smell gas, call the free National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, available 24 hours; turn the gas off at the meter unless the meter is in a cellar or basement. If a pipeline is struck during digging, even with no apparent leak, move away and keep others away, then call 0800 111 999. Cadent operates a 'make safe' service: attendance to make you and the property safe and to check for leaks is not charged, but any follow-on work by a Gas Safe registered engineer may be. When tracing a reported leak Cadent may enter neighbouring homes or dig the road, may cut off the supply if it is unsafe to leave on, and may not complete the repair in a single day. The National Gas Emergency Service does not deal with boiler or appliance faults, including a frozen condensate pipe that will not thaw, which is a matter for the boiler cover provider or a Gas Safe registered engineer.
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Cadent Gas
States plainly that moving a gas meter yourself is illegal and dangerous, and that the meter and its service pipe are moved together by the gas transporter. For building work such as remodelling or an extension, moving an internal meter and pipe outside is presented as the easier route. Cadent aims to complete work at the property within 6 to 8 weeks of the customer accepting the quote, longer if there are local authority street works restrictions or where the meter is moving from an awkward indoor position. To get a quote the customer must supply the full property address, name and telephone number, the distance of external pipework needed to move the meter from its current to its new position, and the distance of internal pipework needed to reconnect the boiler to the new meter position if Cadent is to reconnect it. Connections Team 0800 074 5788, Monday to Friday.
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Citizens Advice
Fault finding and rights for a domestic gas boiler. The checks before calling anyone: hot water set to at least 50 degrees C at the boiler, boiler flow temperature at least 65 degrees C, cylinder thermostat at least 60 degrees C, and the hot water programme timed to come on 1 to 2 hours before it is needed. On rights, a boiler bought within the last 6 years supports a claim against the seller or installer, and a fault within the first 6 months is presumed to have been there at installation so is far easier to prove. Repairs and replacement must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
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Electrical Safety First
Explains the two protections and why they gate any new electrical work. Earthing gives fault current a path through the protective conductor so a fuse, circuit breaker or RCD disconnects the faulty circuit. Bonding connects separate exposed metal parts so the touch voltage between them collapses in a fault, and is used in two forms, main bonding and supplementary bonding. States that on any electrical work, however small, the electrician must first check the existing earthing and bonding meet the required standard, because the safety of the new work depends on them. On rewiring, redundant cable should be removed, or if that is impossible permanently disconnected from any supply. Also states smoke or heat alarms should be at least one per floor, tested at least monthly and replaced every ten years or at the replace by date, and that an EICR is the way to certify work left uncertified by an unregistered electrician.
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Electrical Safety First
Evidence on DIY electrical risk and the boundary of what a householder may do. In a survey of 1,000 electricians, more than 30% had reports of electric shocks caused by incompetent DIY and 15% reported DIY causing an electrical fire. States that higher risk work such as anything in a bathroom or the installation of a new circuit must be carried out, or reviewed and signed off, by a registered competent electrician, and that a lot of domestic electrical work is notifiable so the local authority must be told and the work certified. Recommends periodic inspection at least every 10 years in an owner occupied home and every 5 years in rented accommodation, and a minimum of one smoke alarm per floor with a heat detector in the kitchen, tested weekly.
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Electrical Safety First
Electrical design rules for a kitchen fit out. Socket outlets and switches must be fitted a safe distance from the sink, which where possible means at least 30cm horizontally. Large appliances such as fridges, dishwashers and washing machines installed under worktops leave their sockets unreachable, so each should be controlled by a switch placed above the worktop. Notes that many accidental house fires start in the kitchen, usually from incorrect use or damaged cooking appliances, and that the combination of water, hot surfaces, trailing cables and high power appliances is what makes the room hazardous. Maintenance rules include keeping the oven and grill free of built up fat and grease, a major fire cause, and defrosting the fridge and freezer at least once a year.
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Electrical Safety First
What to do about electrics after a property floods. Do not touch any switch, socket or appliance while standing in water, and do not turn the supply back on until the installation and every affected appliance has been professionally inspected and tested by a registered electrician. All electrical equipment that has been in contact with flood water must be checked and tested before reuse rather than dried and reused. Fire and rescue services can assist with evacuation and with limiting property damage. Contact the distribution network operator rather than attempting to isolate a flooded cut out or meter yourself.
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Electrical Safety First
Ten point electrical fire prevention checklist for the home. Starts with confirming the consumer unit contains an RCD, and recommends plug in RCD adapters at individual sockets where the fusebox has none. Gives the periodic inspection intervals: every 5 years or at each change of occupancy, whichever is sooner, for tenanted property; at least every 10 years for an owner occupied home; at least every 5 years for a business; 3 years for a caravan; and 1 year for a swimming pool. Notes that the average success rate of an electrical product recall in the UK is just 10 to 20%, which is why product registration matters.
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Electrical Safety First
Sets out socket and extension lead overload. Overload occurs when appliances plugged into one lead together exceed the maximum current rating printed on it, and a socket overload calculator is provided to check the total load. Gives the recommended periodic inspection intervals for the fixed installation: every 5 years or at each change of occupancy, whichever comes sooner, for tenanted property; at least every 10 years for an owner occupied home; at least every 5 years for a business; 3 years for a caravan; and 1 year for a swimming pool.
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Electrical Safety First
Fuse ratings and plug checks. The UK standard is the square pin 13 amp plug, and manufacturers have standardised plug fuses at either 3A or 13A, though 5A fuses remain in some older equipment and are still sold. Rule of thumb: appliances rated 700 to 3000 watts, 3000 W being the maximum rating of a wall socket, take a 13 amp fuse, coloured brown. Worked examples: 3A for a table lamp, standard lamp, television, video, computer or soldering iron; 13A for a washing machine, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, power drill, vacuum cleaner, microwave, kettle, toaster or iron. A replacement fuse must match the original rating. Plug and cable checks, made only with the plug removed from the socket, cover secure cable attachment at both ends, cuts, nicks or crushing, absence of joints or insulating tape repairs, cracked casing, melted plastic or discoloration from overheating, and the BS 1363 mark on the back of the plug.
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Electricity North West
Before breaking ground, check the location of underground services on network plans and then follow safe digging techniques. Underground services are commonly found in roads, footpaths, on sites and across open land; always assume they are present and treat any cable as live. Service cables and pipes are routinely confused, and the specific trap named is that black plastic covered electricity cable looks like plastic water pipe. Network plans are obtained through LinesearchbeforeUdig. The reference safe-digging document is HSE HSG47, Avoiding danger from underground services, which should be read before commencing work on site.
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Electricity North West
The consultation trigger distances for any work near overhead lines: you must consult the line operator if working within 15 metres of overhead lines on steel towers, within nine metres of a wood pole, or beneath an overhead power line. Distances are measured at ground level from a point estimated by eye to be vertically under the outermost conductor at the tower or pole. Treat every overhead line as live; some electricity lines look like communication cables and some poles carry both, so never assume a line is telephone. Never raise poles or other long objects towards a line as a sighting or measuring aid. Where work will encroach, request a site visit: the operator's representative recommends a minimum clearance distance, advises on meeting HSE guidance note GS6, confirms in writing any arrangement to switch the line out, and establishes whether shrouding, sheathing or cable protection is needed. Network plans are requested by email at PlanRequest@enwl.co.uk. GS6 (Avoidance of danger from overhead electric power lines) is the reference guide, ISBN 0717613488, free from the HSE website.
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Energy Saving Trust
Practical domestic ventilation rules. Internal doors need a 10mm gap between the bottom of the door and the top of the carpet or flooring so air circulates. Extractor fans should be run, or a window left open, for around 15 minutes after showering, bathing or cooking. Trickle vents should be kept open all year round including in winter, and reopened promptly if they are ever shut to keep cold air out. Ventilation matters as much in winter as in summer.
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Energy Saving Trust
Water use figures for a UK home. Ofwat puts average personal use at around 150 litres a day. A UK Government report puts hot water at around 18% of a household's heat demand. Swapping an inefficient shower head for a water efficient one saves a typical home £65 a year in Great Britain and £25 in Northern Ireland across combined heating and water bills. Consumer Council for Water figures put a running tap at around nine litres a minute, and it takes just 95 seconds of a typical running tap to use as much water as filling a washing up bowl. A dripping tap wastes thousands of litres a year, so washers should be changed promptly. Last updated 19 June 2026.
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HomeOwners Alliance
Identification and cost of the three damp types. Rising damp is recognised by a tide mark typically up to 1m above floor level, sometimes higher, with salt deposits in the plaster from groundwater. A damp proof course in a newer house sits about 15cm above external ground level and links to a damp proof membrane under the floor; many older houses have neither. Costs: a standalone damp survey £200 to £600 depending on property size and depth of investigation, best taken from a Property Care Association approved specialist; a good extractor fan for a condensation problem from £500; a remedial damp proof course with associated replastering to a flat 5m wall from £1,200. Advises at least 3 quotes. Condensation reduction tips include running cold water into the bath before hot, which cuts up to 90% of the steam.
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HomeOwners Alliance
Costed flood resilience measures for a house. Air brick covers £50 to £300, to be removed once flooding passes so the bricks can dry. Non return valves on drains and pipes to stop sewage backflow £50 to £500. Raising electrical sockets to about 1.5m £1,000 to £4,000. Raising door thresholds above flood level, front door and porch, £1,000 to £10,000. Sealing exterior walls around £500, with a warning it can trap damp in poor condition brickwork. Water resistant air bricks £500 to £1,000, needing careful maintenance to avoid seepage. Flood boards or flood resistant doors and windows £500 to £3,000, requiring permanently visible fixings. A pump, the most effective answer to groundwater, £50 to £2,500, with the inlet installed lower than the water being pumped. Basement tanking £10,000 to £20,000. On insurance, Flood Re is funded by a levy all UK home insurers must pay, and a home qualifies only if it was built before 2009 and is in council tax bands A to H.
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Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Sustainability Institute
Review of measured in-use indoor air quality in more than 600 Passive House or PH-like newly built or retrofitted dwellings (Rojas, Fletcher, Johnston and Siddall, Energy and Buildings 306, 2024). Findings: pollutant and CO2 concentrations are generally lower than in naturally ventilated homes, attributed to the required balanced MVHR system, and the quality assurance of PH certification measurably improves ventilation and IAQ performance. The paper adopts CO2 up to 1400 ppm as the indicator of acceptable ventilation from a health perspective, assuming low-emitting materials, and notes typical steady-state figures of 1350 to 1800 ppm for standard occupancy assumptions. Numbers a specifier can use: PH ventilation criteria require MVHR heat recovery efficiency above 75 per cent, specific fan power including controls below 0.45 Wh/m3, supply and extract air flows balanced to within 10 per cent, and internal leakage of the MVHR unit limited to under 3 per cent. Filter grade moved to ePM1(50 per cent) or better in November 2018. The named weakness of the standard is the lack of a cooking fume capture requirement, combined with efforts to avoid the energy losses of extraction.
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Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Sustainability Institute
The method statement for the coheating test, which is how whole-house heat loss is actually measured rather than modelled. The dwelling is left unoccupied and heated electrically by portable point heaters to a mean elevated internal temperature, typically 25 C, held over a number of days, with data collected 24 hours a day; a test typically runs for 1 to 4 weeks once the dwelling is heat saturated. Daily heat input in Watts is plotted against the temperature difference between inside and outside, and the slope of that plot gives the raw uncorrected heat loss coefficient in W/K, which combines fabric heat loss and background ventilation loss. It is a quasi-steady state aggregate method, one of only a few capable of measuring whole dwelling heat loss in situ (the alternative named is the PSTAR method), and it has existed since the 1970s. Practical cautions given: solar radiation absorbed one day may not be re-emitted until the next, and in a very airtight dwelling the ventilation rate can be so low that it takes 2 to 3 days for all the air in the dwelling to be exchanged.
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London Fire Brigade
Where to put detection in a home and which type. Smoke alarms go in every room where a fire may start, not just the hall and landing, but never in a kitchen or anywhere with excess smoke or steam; a heat alarm, which triggers on a rapid rise in temperature, goes in the kitchen instead and is not set off by cooking fumes. States around 60% of home fires start in the kitchen. Recommends alarms with a 10 year or long lasting sealed battery, and interlinking battery or mains alarms so that one detection sounds them all, which matters most where someone's escape may be delayed. Mains powered alarms must be installed by a qualified electrician. Domestic fire suppression such as sprinklers is raised as an option where quick escape is unlikely. LFB offers a free Home Fire Safety Visit and will fit free smoke alarms where existing ones are inadequate.
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National Grid Electricity Distribution
Contains the rules on where a meter may sit and two fully worked cost examples. Permissible meter locations: in an external meter box (recommended), inside the property on an external wall, or in a suitable weatherproof meter cubicle; the cubicle detail is 1.5m high by 0.6m wide by 0.45m deep, and the internal-wall position allows 1,250mm by 550mm. Meters must not be located inside a dustbin, coal or refuse store, above doorways, in a bathroom, toilet or shower room, in a basement or cellar, under stairs where headroom is less than 2m, on plasterboard or drywall partition walls, close to a water source that could damage the equipment or cause an electrocution risk, or anywhere in breach of BS 7671. A surface mounted meter box protrudes 230mm from the wall, so check it will not obstruct or be damaged; a flush fit box is best built into new brickwork. Once the works are complete the meter box and cable guard become the customer's property to maintain. Worked example 1, overhead supply: overhead re-connection £1,091 plus £182 plus £91, no trench, total £1,364. Worked example 2, underground supply, customer excavation: underground re-connection £980 plus 10m of cable at £26/m (£260), total £1,240; the same job with NGED excavation: underground re-connection £2,437 plus £260 of cable plus 5m grass trench at £83/m (£415) plus 5m tarmac trench at £169/m (£845), total £3,957. A joint hole is needed to expose the existing cable, with at least 200mm of excavated ground below the cable, and warning tape is laid 75mm above the cable depth. Preparatory work such as installing the meter box must be finished before the visit or the job may be cancelled and an aborted visit charged. Bespoke offers are needed to move a three phase supply, to replace an overhead cable with an underground one, for routes crossing third party land, and for routes needing traffic lights or road closures.
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NIE Networks
The meter board is the wooden (sometimes other material) board carrying the electricity meter and main fuse, mounted on a wall or inside an outdoor meter box; the meter cubicle is the outdoor box that protects the equipment. A board that is old, worn, damp, rotten or vandalised must be replaced by the homeowner's own electrician, who removes and re-attaches the electrical equipment and fits a new board, while NIE Networks temporarily removes and re-attaches the meter and its own equipment, quoted through a connection application for an alteration. Critical warning repeated twice: under no circumstances may an electrician or electrical contractor remove NIE seals or equipment to do this work, as it is illegal. Replacement meter box doors and keys can be bought from most builders merchants, electrical wholesalers or online. If NIE Networks finds a defect such as a damaged or missing door or a wet or damp backboard it writes to the customer requiring repair. A meter that has come loose from the backboard should be reported immediately on 03457 643 643 as it may be a dangerous situation.