Criterion 5 Provisions for energy-efficient operation of the dwelling
4.1 In accordance with regulation 40, the owner of the dwelling should be provided with sufficient information about the building, the fixed building services and their maintenance requirements so that the building can be operated in such a manner as to use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances.
Information about use of fuel and power
40. (1) This regulation applies where paragraph L1 of Schedule 1 imposes a requirement relating to building work.
(2) The person carrying out the building work shall not later than five days after the work has been completed provide to the owner sufficient information about the building, the fixed building services and their maintenance requirements so that the building can be operated in such a manner as to use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances.
4.2 A way of complying with the requirement is to provide a suitable set of operating and maintenance instructions aimed at assisting the occupiers of the dwelling achieve the expected level of energy efficiency. The documentation should be specific to the dwelling, and be in a durable format that can be kept and referred to over the service life of the various systems and components. The documentation should include relevant information in an easily understood format.
4.3 Without prejudice to the need to comply with health and safety requirements, this should:
a. Explain the essential design principles (insulation, materials etc.) and the key features, with floor plans showing the location of the main heating and ventilation components in the dwelling.
b. Explain how to operate, control and maintain the following systems:
i. space heating system;
ii. hot water heating system;
iii. ventilation system;
iv. any other technology which has been included in the dwelling, e.g. solar panels or other low and zero carbon technology, or a technology for which SAP Appendix Q has been utilised.
c. Signpost other important documentation which should include:
i. appliance manuals;
ii. the data used in the TER/DER and TFEE/DFEE rate calculations;
iii. the Recommendations Report generated with the 'on-construction' energy performance certificate, which will inform the occupier as to how the energy performance of the dwelling might be further improved.
NOTE: It would also be sensible to retain an electronic copy of the input file for the energy calculation to facilitate any future analysis that may be required by the owner when altering or improving the dwelling.
