As part of the new Building Regulations all new build houses must provide details of energy efficiency they are targeting at design stage and then have this checked for compliance at completion. In addition you also need to conduct an Air Leakage test too. There are yet more professionals offering up services to complete these for you and by the sound of it it's not something you can DIY.
It pays to shop around. NHBC wanted approx £500 for all of the reports but I managed to get the lot for just under £300. It also pays to ask questions and as my mum always used to tell me "if you don't ask you don't get". In particular a really cheap and easy way of increasing your chances of passing the Air Leakage test and upping your houses Energy Rating is simply to ensure that all of the joints between your internal brick work is fully pointed up.
The guy at EPS Group was really helpful and he told me a story of a self builder who went round at the end of each day and filled in all of the gaps in the pointing on all internal walls and at the end of this his house was the air tight he very nearly had to install additional mechanical ventilation so he didn't suffocate - a bit extreme but none-the-less I'm all for making my house comfortable and cutting down on those unpleasant drafts from under the skirting boards and around windows. Let's see if this makes any difference at the end.
This is no criticism of Derek or Pauls work and in fact when I checked their work there was hardly a gap in sight - great work guys ;¬)
Still it matters not a jot if you can't lay a level course of blocks!
It's all starting to gather pace now and decisions are having to be made very quickly. The house is now turning 3-D and the rooms are starting to take shape. In the picture above I'm standing in what will be our Lounge - OMG!!!!
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