Quality management platform for developers, Zutec, has built a digital solution to help its customers stay ahead of a new decarbonisation requirement for housebuilders.
From 15th June 2022, housebuilders and developers in England and Wales will be required to provide qualitative photographic evidence that demonstrates that new homes produce 31% less CO2 emissions compared to the current requirements.
This is to comply with the uplifted Part L standard (or Approved Document L 2021) of the UK’s Building Regulations, which comes into force to drive further energy efficiencies in new builds.
Streamlining photographic evidence
Emily Hopson-Hill, COO, Zutec, explained: “To enable geo-located photos to be captured properly, correctly labelled, centrally stored and traced back to a property before being submitted to the assessor for sign off, Zutec, has built a customisable solution available today to help customers stay ahead of the Part L requirement.”
“From speaking to our customers, one challenge they have today as Part L 2021 comes into play is having one tool or app that works on site from any device, whether or not there is a WIFI or data connection available, that allows them to take and record geo-located photographic evidence of a new home’s insulation or installation, to demonstrate compliance to Part L 2021.
“Working with our customers we have built a solution that can be integrated into a site quality management programme that enables geo-referenced photos to be captured from any device with or without a data connection.
“Zutec provides the functionality for those photos to be marked up, complemented with supporting documentation, stored centrally within the platform, traced back to a location and property, and easily shared with team members, inspectors or assessors during the build stage via customisable workflows.
“Once the SAP assessor has reviewed evidence it can be approved or sent back with feedback, so if work is not up to standard it can be remediated before the build completes.
“This speeds up the process, ahead of the EPC and the BREL report being released and avoids retrofitting new homes, which is timely and costly.
“A first for the sector, Zutec can be configured quickly to adapt to changing regulations and helps housebuilders take additional steps towards quality assurance, traceability and accountability.”
With the more rigorous Future Homes and Future Building Standard coming into force in 2025, which moves towards carbon-neutral new homes and requirements to reduce emissions by 75-80%, Zutec say they provide a “digital-first step to help housebuilders evidence compliance.”
Image credit: Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock
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