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Publication - Advice and guidance

Building standards technical handbook 2020: non-domestic

Published
2 December 2020
Directorate
Local Government and Housing Directorate
Topic
Building, planning and design
ISBN
978-1-78544-329-9

The building standards technical handbooks provide guidance on achieving the standards set in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. This handbook applies to a building warrant submitted on or after 1 March 2021 and to building work which does not require a warrant commenced from that date.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

6.8 Written Information

Mandatory Standard

Standard 6.8

The occupiers of a building must be provided with written information by the owner:

  1. on the operation and maintenance of the building services and energy supply systems, and

  2. where any air-conditioning system in the building is subject to regulation 17, stating a time-based interval for inspection of the system.

Limitation:

This standard does not apply to:

  1. major power plants serving the National Grid

  2. buildings which do not use fuel or power for heating, lighting, ventilating and cooling the internal environment and heating the water supply services

  3. the process and emergency lighting components of a building

  4. heating provided solely for the purpose of frost protection

  5. lighting systems in a domestic building, or

  6. energy supply systems used solely for industrial and commercial processes, leisure use and emergency use within a building.

6.8.0 Introduction

Correct use and appropriate maintenance of building services equipment is essential if the benefits of enhanced energy efficiency are to be realised from such equipment. The intention of this standard is to make the information that will help achieve this, available to the occupier of the building.

Although there is no requirement within Section 6 for minimum efficiency levels of either, building-integrated or localised energy supply systems (e.g. diesel generators, micro wind turbines or photovoltaic arrays), there is a need for user and maintenance instructions to enable efficient use unless they are exempt under schedule 1, regulation 3.

Power plants which serve a number of buildings (e.g. an industrial estate) and only export surplus electricity to the National Grid will also need to have user and maintenance instructions, unless exempt in terms of schedule 1, regulation 3.

Instructions on taking readings from the automatic monitoring and targeting systems (AM&T), when present, should be provided to ensure the benefits of the installation are realised.

Conversions - in the case of conversions, as specified in regulation 4, the building as converted shall meet the requirement of this standard (regulation 12, schedule 6).

6.8.1 Logbook information

A logbook should be provided and contain information about all aspects of energy system operation and maintenance to enable the building user to optimise the use of fuel. This should include detailed information on building services plant and controls.

CIBSE Technical Memorandum 31 (TM31) (http://www.cibse.org/) provides guidance on the presentation of a logbook, and the logbook information should be presented in this or a similar manner.

6.8.2 Work on existing buildings

It is recognised that some alterations to building services, because they are done on a piecemeal basis, will not result in optimum energy efficiency being attained for the entire system. Where this occurs, the person responsible for the commissioning of that part of the system should make available to the owner and occupier, a list of recommendations that will improve the overall energy efficiency of the system.

On completion of the extension or alteration to the building services system, the commissioning information should be updated in the logbooks.

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