Welcome

1.2What’s changed

Major technical changes

As well as more minor changes to Chapters 3.3, 5.1, 6.2, 6.4, 6.7, 6.8, 9.5, the following major technical changes have been made to this edition of the Standards:

  • Chapter 3.1 - new guidance addressing punching shear to align with the requirements of both BS EN 1992 and BS 8666
  • Chapter 5.3 - new guidance on inspection chambers plus additional guidance on surface soakaway design for gardens less than 100m2 in area
  • Chapter 5.4 - guidance on the protection of below ground structures against water ingress to align with BS 8102:2022
  • Chapter 6.1 - new guidance on the provision of horizontal movement joints on masonry clad buildings and increasing cavity wall performance standards
  • Chapter 6.4 – updates to both concrete upper floor design and timber I joist deflection limits
  • Chapter 6.7 - updates to guidance on the weathertightness of windows, doors and glazing
  • Chapter 7.2 - updates to underlay and sarking, ventilation; vapour control and insulation; battens, fixing of tiles and slates; valleys and hidden gutters and traditional roof arrangements; protection of trussed rafter roofs and bracing requirements
  • Chapters 8.1 to 8.3 - amended in readiness for the carbon reduction requirements expected in the Future Homes Standard. New guidance on heat pump design and specification/certification requirements; solar thermal systems; space heating systems
  • Chapter 9.1 - new guidance on decorative coatings to steelwork
  • Chapter 10.1 - new guidance on the provision of ground gas precautions to an integral or attached garages as well as new guidance on supporting single leaf garage walls up to 200mm thick.

We have taken the opportunity to make a number of editorial changes throughout the document. This includes updating references to British Standards

3D models

3D models can be accessed directly within Standards Plus, the online version of the Standards, by clicking on the embedded icons. They can also be viewed on the NHBC 3D Viewer app, which hosts a library of the 3D models to view on iOS and Android devices.