Except for the items marked * (which are from the Building Regulations 2010), these definitions apply only to Approved Document F, Volume 1: Dwellings.
Air permeability The measure of airtightness of the building fabric. It is defined as the air leakage rate per hour per m2 of envelope area at the test reference pressure differential of 50Pa or 4Pa.
Airtightness The resistance of the building envelope to infiltration when ventilators are closed. The greater the airtightness at a given pressure difference across the envelope, the lower the infiltration.
Automatic controls A system whereby a ventilation device is adjusted by a mechanical or electronic controller that responds to a relevant stimulus. That stimulus usually relates to the humidity of the air in a room, pollutant levels, occupancy of the space or pressure difference across the device.
Background ventilator A small ventilation opening designed to provide controllable whole dwelling ventilation.
Basement (in relation to a dwelling) A dwelling or a usable part of a dwelling (i.e. a habitable room) that is partly or entirely below ground level. Note that a cellar is distinct from a basement, in that a cellar is used only for storage, heating plant or purposes other than habitation.
Bathroom A room that contains a bath or shower and which can also include sanitary accommodation.
Building control body A local authority or an approved inspector.
Continuous mechanical extract ventilation Mechanically driven ventilation that continuously extracts indoor air and discharges it to the outside.
Continuous operation Uninterrupted running of a mechanical ventilation device, such as continuous mechanical extract ventilation or mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. The air flow rate provided by mechanical ventilation need not be constant but may be varied, under either manual or automatic control, in response to the demand for
the removal of pollutants or water vapour.
Dwelling A self-contained unit designed to accommodate a single household.
Equivalent area A measure of the aerodynamic performance of a ventilator. It is the area of a sharpedged
circular orifice through which air would pass at the same volume flow rate, under an identical applied pressure difference, as through the opening under consideration. The equivalent area of a background ventilator is determined at 1Pa pressure difference in accordance with Table 1.7.
Expert advice Advice from a suitably qualified competent person. Examples from the ventilation industry of a person competent to give expert advice include a chartered or professional engineer, a building services specialist, a specialist ventilation manufacturer or members of professional trade bodies.
Extract ventilation The removal of air directly from an internal space or spaces to the outside. Extract ventilation may be by natural means or by mechanical means (e.g. by an extract fan or a central system).
Free area The geometric open area of a ventilator. Habitable room A room used for dwelling purposes but which is not solely a kitchen, utility room, bathroom, cellar or sanitary accommodation.
Heat recovery Applied to mechanical supply and extract systems or a single room ventilator, extract air is passed over a heat exchanger and the recovered heat is put into the supply air.
Highly airtight dwellings Dwellings that achieve one of the following.
a. A design air permeability lower than 5m3/(h·m2) at 50Pa.
b. An as-built air permeability lower than 3m3/(h·m2) at 50Pa.
Infiltration The uncontrolled exchange of air between the inside and outside of a building, through gaps and cracks.
Intermittent operation When a mechanical ventilator does not run all the time, usually running only when there is a particular need to remove pollutants or water vapour (e.g. during cooking or bathing). Intermittent operation may be under either manual or automatic control.
Less airtight dwellings Those dwellings that are not highly airtight dwellings.
Manual controls A system whereby a ventilation device is opened and closed, or switched on and off, or its performance is adjusted by the occupants of a room or building (see automatic controls).
**Material change of use* Defined in regulation 5 as: Where there is a change in the purposes for which or the circumstances in which a building is used, so that after that change:
a. the building is used as a dwelling, where previously it was not;
b. the building contains a flat, where previously it did not;
c. the building is used as an hotel or a boarding house, where previously it was not;
d. the building is used as an institution, where previously it was not;
e. the building is used as a public building, where previously it was not;
f. the building is not a building described in classes 1 to 6 in Schedule 2, where previously it was;
g. the building, which contains at least one dwelling, contains a greater or lesser number of dwellings than it did previously;
h. the building contains a room for residential purposes, where previously it did not;
i. the building, which contains at least one room for residential purposes, contains a greater or lesser number of such rooms than it did previously;
j. the building is used as a shop, where it previously was not; or
k. the building is a building described in regulation 7(4)(a), where previously it was not.
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery A mechanically driven ventilation system that both continuously supplies outdoor air to the inside of the dwelling and continuously extracts indoor air and discharges it to the outside. For the purposes of this approved document, the guidance for mechanical ventilation with heat recovery applies
to centralised or decentralised supply and extract systems, with or without heat recovery.
Natural ventilation Ventilation provided by thermal, wind or diffusion effects through doors, windows or other intentional openings without the use of mechanically driven equipment. For the purposes of this approved document, natural ventilation refers to a ventilation strategy using background ventilators and intermittent extract ventilation.
Permanent opening An opening between rooms or floors that has no means of closing it, e.g. an open stairwell or two rooms that have been joined by removing part of a wall.
Purge ventilation Manually controlled ventilation of rooms or spaces at a relatively high rate to rapidly dilute pollutants and/or disperse water vapour. Purge ventilation may be provided by natural means (e.g. an openable window) or mechanical means (e.g. a fan).
Purpose-provided ventilation That part of the ventilation of a building provided by ventilation devices designed into the building (e.g. background ventilators, extract fans, mechanical ventilation or air-conditioning systems).
**Room for residential purposes* Defined in regulation 2(1) as a room, or a suite of rooms, which is not a dwelling-house or a flat and which is used by one or more persons to live and sleep and includes a room in a hostel, an hotel, a
boarding house, a hall of residence or a residential home, but does not include a room in a hospital, or other similar establishment, used for patient accommodation.
Sanitary accommodation A space containing one or more flush toilets (WCs) or urinals. Sanitary accommodation containing one or more cubicles counts as one space if there is free circulation of air throughout the space.
Shared communal rooms Rooms in buildings containing dwellings, which provide facilities for the residents. For example, a laundry room, occupied lobby or gym. This does not include areas used solely or principally for circulation in buildings containing dwellings, including corridors or lift lobbies.
Surface water activity A measure of the availability of water to micro-organisms. Surface water activity is determined from the ratio of the vapour pressure of the water in the substrate to the vapour pressure of pure water at the same temperature and pressure. This ratio, in steady-state conditions, is numerically equal to the equilibrium relative humidity of the air, except that the latter is commonly expressed as a percentage.
Thermal envelope The combination of thermal elements of a building which enclose a particular conditioned indoor space or group of indoor spaces.
Utility room A room containing a sink or other feature or equipment that may reasonably be expected to produce significant quantities of water vapour.
Ventilation The supply and removal of air (by natural and/or mechanical means) to and from a space or spaces in a building. It normally comprises a combination of purpose-provided ventilation and infiltration.
Wet room A room used for domestic activities (such as cooking, clothes washing and bathing) that produce significant amounts of airborne moisture, e.g. a kitchen, utility room or bathroom. For the purposes of Part F of the Building Regulations, sanitary accommodation is also regarded as a wet room.
Whole dwelling ventilation (general ventilation) Nominally continuous ventilation of rooms or spaces at a relatively low rate to dilute and remove pollutants and water vapour not removed by extract ventilation, purge ventilation or infiltration, as well as to supply outdoor air into the dwelling.
