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Air Tightness Testing

Air Tightness Testing identifies areas of the building that are experiencing heat loss through gaps and cracks in the envelope of the building fabric. The only satisfactory way to show that the building fabric is reasonably airtight is to measure the leakiness of the building fabric as a whole.

The Blower door provides a way to quantify air flow and the resulting heat loss, along with a way to pinpoint specific leaks. This involves temporarily sealing the intended ventilation channels such as natural ventilation vents on doors/walls/windows and chimney openings and then creating a air pressure difference inside the building to that of the atmospheric pressure outside.

Aratings believes “build tight, ventilate right” and have total control over the ventilation system within the building. Air tightness testing can prove that a dwelling meets specific Building Regulation Standards - EN 13829 in air permeability, providing an incentive for all property owners to ensure that the design is well considered and built. This means, amongst other things, reduced carbon emissions, reduced fuel bills and increased occupant comfort.

Other applications for the air tightness testing include computer rooms, UPS rooms and control rooms which are areas protected by gaseous extinguisher systems such as FM200 and Inergen. NFPA 2001 and ISO 14520 require that all new rooms have the integrity of the enclosure tested before acceptance. These rooms must be retested annually and whenever alterations are made.

The revised Building Regulations 2007 introduce mandatory Air Tightness Testing for new dwellings. All new dwellings will require an Air Tightness Test from 1st July 2008. In the case of a development the following guidelines apply:

Number of pressure tests required per dwelling type
Number of units	Number of tests required
1-4	one test
5-40	two tests
41-100	5% of dwelling type
101+ (if target is reached)	2%
101+ (if target is not reached)	5%