Domestic Ventilation flow rate testing
Ventilation flow rate testing is a requirement for all new builds under Part F of the 2010 Building Regulations. It requires a robust testing procedure to demonstrate the functional performance of all ventilation system types. Ventilation is necessary to provide a healthy and comfortable internal environment; it removes polluted air and replaces it with fresh outdoor air.
This means all centralised and decentralised mechanical ventilation systems and extract fans should have their flow rates tested, with the results submitted to Building Control as part of the Building Regulations sign-off.
We offer a comprehensive ventilation testing service that can be administered alongside the air permeability test, making it more cost-effective. All testing is done as per the Domestic Ventilation Compliance Guide 2010 Edition.
We predominately test system 1-background ventilators and intermittent extract fans. The size of the fan should consider the room size and not necessarily the minimum required by Part F of the Building Regulations 2010.
Fan manufacturers will often state the extract rate of their product in metres cubed per hour (m³/h) rather than litres per second (l/s) to convert from m³/h to l/s first calculate the area of the room.
(1l/s = 3.6m³/h).
Width 2.7m x length 2.55m x height 2.25m = 15.49m³
ACH required = 10 (Bathroom ACH 6 – 10 based on Vent-Axia’s guidelines).
10 x 15.49 = 154.9m³/h
Divide 154.9m³/h by 3.6 = 43.0l/s