Heat networks: Building Assessment Report (BAR) guidance

1 Introduction

The role of a Building Assessment Report (BAR) is to help assess the suitability of a non-domestic property^[1] for connecting to a heat network, as defined in Part 5 of the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021^[2] (herein referred to as the Act). This duty currently applies to non-domestic properties that Scottish public authorities have an interest in as specified by section 67 (a) of the Act^[3]. The primary use of BAR information, as set out in the Act, is to inform decisions on the particular suitability of areas for the construction and operation of a heat network, and subsequently to inform designation decisions, should these areas be progressed for consideration for designation.

Given the primary use of BAR information is to support consideration of an area, rather than a defined project, there is a restriction imposed on the assessment of connection suitability due to the lack of definition at this stage on the type of network a property could be connecting to. For this reason, the BAR process is primarily an information-gathering process, rather than a process which will make a direct assessment of the connection suitability of a property.

Completion of BARs will enable more informed decision making regarding the review of heat network opportunities (see section 47 of the Act) and the designation of Heat Network Zones (see section 48 of the Act). Should a heat network develop in proximity to a property for which a BAR has been requested, the network may be able to supply this property with low carbon heat, potentially offering a heat supply decarbonisation pathway not available through consideration of property-level solutions in isolation. The cost of low carbon heat from a heat network may also be favourable in comparison to that available from property-level low carbon solutions.

Experience from piloting suggests that a first BAR may take between 30 and 60 minutes to complete. For organisations where BAR information has been requested for multiple properties, experience from piloting suggests a steep reduction in completion time for subsequent BARs, to approximately 5 to 15 minutes.

The Building Assessment Report Template is made up of approximately 30 questions, split into five main groups:

1. Identification / data cataloguing – covers information relating to identification of the building and noting who completed the BAR. This includes the main data item used to aggregate the BAR into a wider database and geolocate it. Most of the fields in this section are free text.

2. Requirement of further detail – a short section to complete to establish if any further information is required, to avoid placing the burden of a BAR on smaller businesses or operators or if the property is for example unheated. This section is primarily completed through a series of drop-downs or manual entry of numeric values.

3. Property type / ownership – establishes the use and ownership of the property. It also includes some key characteristics for building categorisation.

4. Heat details – the main section of the BAR. Contains a combination of drop-down options for non-numeric details, with numeric elements being entered manually.

5. Additional details – information which does not fit into the four previous sections (including upcoming changes in heat demand); some of these are optional fields to complete. Although optional the information is very useful for all properties, those with heat demands greater than 250 MWh/yr should look to complete these.

Information for how to fill in different elements of the BAR is included within this guidance and where possible embedded in the template. This includes:

• Whether the information is to be typed manually or selected using a drop-down list
• A description of the information required, and where suitable, guidance on how to gather the relevant information
• An example of the information expected to be included

Given development time constraints to date, Microsoft Excel was selected as the only viable option to develop a BAR template. The amount of information that can be embedded in Excel is limited, and to overcome this issue, this BAR guidance document has been developed to accompany the template. This document provides a more detailed guide on how to complete the BAR, overcoming the limitations of how much information can be imbedded in Excel. Overall, we expect that this guidance, and the BAR template, will evolve over time.

The key identifier which is required in the BAR template is a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) - this is a unique code for each property with an address in Great Britain (how to find a UPRN is detailed in the section below). The aim of the BAR process is for every relevant property with a UPRN to have a completed BAR. It should be noted a UPRN can also be given to objects without a postal address, such as bus shelters or electricity sub-station – such objects are not of interest to the BAR templates.

1.1 How to Find a UPRN

If you are unsure of the property UPRN please either use the One Scotland Gazetteer^[4] or the Ordnance Survey FindMyAddress service^[5]. To use these services search for the address of your property using the links provided in the footnotes. This will also display the selected location on a map to cross-check that the suggested location is correct.

1.2 Sites with Centralised Supply to multiple properties

A recognised challenge when completing a BAR is sites which have a centralised supply with multiple properties served by one common heat source. This could be a heat network, a smaller shared boiler system or a single gas offtake for multiple buildings. In these instances, it may be hard to establish demand and other fields at a property level. To overcome these issues, a "Building Assessment Report Template" should still be completed for the known fields at an individual level, and alongside this, the shorter "Building Assessment Report for Centralised Supply Template" should also be completed. The latter lists all the properties (either UPRNs or property coordinates) covered by the centralised heat source and reports the heat demand at this centralised point.

1.3 Building Assessment Report templates and tabs

There are two different BAR templates. The first – "Building Assessment Report Template" – is to be completed for all non-domestic properties that require a BAR and contains three tabs:

• a 'Read me' tab;
• a 'BAR' tab, where the main template for completion can be found;
• a hidden 'Input information' tab, which should not be altered as it acts as a reference to the template

Guidance for completion of the Building Assessment Report Template is provided in section 2.

Alongside the main BAR template, a separate, shorter, "Building Assessment Report for Centralised Supply Template" (as described in section 1.2). This template also contains three tabs:

• a 'Read me' tab;
• a 'Centralised Supply' tab, for completion if multiple properties share a heat source/meter;
• a hidden 'Input information' tab, which should not be altered as it acts as a reference to the template

Guidance for completion of this template is provided in section 3.