The Building Regulations, U Values and your Timber Frame Options
Our standard wall is included in all quotes unless otherwise requested

Building Regulations are a seemingly ever changing set of requirements laid down by Parliament to ensure that your Self Build Timber Frame is built to approved standards including:

The health, safety and welfare of people in and around buildings.
The conservation of fuel and energy within buildings.
Ease of access and facilities for disabled people.
Fire safety and means of escape from buildings.

Building Regulations Approved Documents

The Approved Documents that offer guidance on how to comply with the Regulations are listed below.

Part A - Structure
Part B - Fire Safety
Part C - Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture
Part D - Toxic Substances
Part E - Resistance to the passage of sound
Part F - Ventilation
Part G - Hygiene
Part H - Waste Disposal
Part J - Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems
Part K - Protection from falling, collision and impact
Part L - Conservation of fuel and power
Part M - Access to facilities and buildings
Part N - Glazing
Part P - Electrical Safety

Lately, much focus has been placed upon Part L.
Solo's response to the requirements can be seen in the diagrams below which detail four ways you can achieve compliance. The simplest frame and our standard offering, is also the most cost effective route and offers a 0.21 U value.

U Values

If you're looking for a science lesson then take a look at the Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity
We'll attempt to give you a much shorter oversight here:

U-values are a measure of thermal transmittance and express the rate of heat transfer through any element of your building, such as the wall, roof, window or indeed any structural component.
The higher the figure, the worse the thermal insulation quality. So aim to keep your U-values low.

Because the construction of these elements can vary so much depending on your design and choice of materials, the U-values vary too and hence they need to be calculated specifically for each element. The units used to express U-values are watts per m² Kelvin (W/m²K). This means that if a wall, for example, had a U-value of 1.0 W/m²K, for every degree of temperature difference between the air on the surface inside the wall and the air on the surface outside, 1 watt of heat would pass through any m².

In addition to the Building Regulations, which you must follow, you may be asked to comply with other guidelines including CFSH (Code for Sustainable Homes), SAP (Standard Assessment Procedures), SBEM calculations (Simplified Building Energy Model), EPC (Energy Performance Certificates).

Whatever the requirements, Solo Timber Frame can guide you through what is one of the most confusing aspects of your Self Build.

Your choice of Timber Frame Walls

In designing these frames, we tried to ensure minimal additional labour is required on site.
Many of our competitors have taken the route of additional cavities to increase efficiency, but these systems take away valuable floor space and are costly to install in terms of time and money.

Solo Timber Frame will help you decide which Timber Frame Panel is best suited to your Self Build.