The scope of this Part L scheme

The scope of this scheme is to ensure that competent contractors are responsible for providing energy efficient electrical building services installations, and that they are properly designed, installed, tested and commissioned with effective controls. The categories covered by this scheme are:-

a) Lighting

The lighting requirement of Part L is that "lighting installations which are energy efficient should be provided". It applies within buildings and parts of buildings where more than 100m² of floor area is to be served with artificial lighting and associated minimum provision of local controls.

b) Electrical heating

The Electrical space heating requirement of Part L is that "electric space heating installations which are energy efficient should be provided". It applies within buildings and parts of buildings, where the space heating system is provided by electric heaters and associated minimum provision of local controls, e.g. electric panel heaters, fan connectors, radiant heaters, under floor heating, storage systems etc.

c) Controls

The requirement of Part L is that "energy efficient and properly commissioned fixed building services with effective controls should be provided". It applies to buildings and parts of building where automatic central controls are provided for the correct operation, monitoring and control of fixed building services, e.g. lighting, heating, air conditioning, ventilation systems, hot water systems, etc.

d) Metering & monitoring

The metering requirement of Part L is that "reasonable provision shall be made to enable building operators to effectively manage energy usage". The new requirement seeks to ensure that building designers and installation contractors provide appropriate metering and sub-metering so that building operators have a clear way of establishing where energy is being consumed and can use the date to compare building operating performance with published benchmarks.