Northern Ireland has its own building regulations, and new dwellings there are assessed against Technical Booklet F1 — not Part L. We produce design-stage and as-built SAP calculations for sites across all six counties, worked up remotely from your drawings, so there is nothing to schedule and no travel to pay for.
The Northern Ireland rules
Building control is a devolved matter, and Northern Ireland runs its own system under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland). Conservation of fuel and power sits under Part F, and the practical guidance for houses and flats is published as Technical Booklet F1 — dwellings. It is a separate document from the Part L approved documents used in England and Wales, and separate again from Scotland's Section 6.
What has not changed is the method. SAP remains the assessment methodology used to show that a new dwelling in Northern Ireland meets the energy requirements, and the same calculation goes on to generate the home's EPC. The modelling discipline is familiar — the targets and the documentation simply have to be set against the Northern Ireland booklet.
Check the edition. Technical booklets are amended from time to time, and the version that applies depends on when your building control application is made. We confirm which edition your scheme is being assessed under before modelling starts, and it is always worth checking the point with your district council too.
Know the difference
| Northern Ireland | England & Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| Regulations | Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) | Building Regulations for England and for Wales |
| Energy guidance | Technical Booklet F1 (dwellings) | Approved Document L — separate English and Welsh versions |
| Who enforces | District council building control | Local authority building control or an approved inspector |
| Method | SAP | SAP |
| Design stage | SAP report submitted before work starts | SAP report submitted before work starts |
| Completion | As-built SAP including the air test result, then EPC | As-built SAP including the air test result, then EPC |
Practical upshot: the shape of the process is the same on both sides of the Irish Sea, but the targets and the reference specification come from different documents. A report prepared against the wrong one has to be redone, which is why we confirm the jurisdiction at quote stage.
How we work
A design-stage SAP is a calculation, not an inspection — it is built from drawings, build-ups and the services specification, none of which improve by someone standing in a field in Fermanagh.
Self-build is proportionally more common in Northern Ireland than in much of Great Britain, and a one-off house on family land is exactly the sort of project a drawings-based service handles well.
Related services: the full process is set out under SAP for new builds, non-standard wall, roof and floor build-ups are proved with U-value calculations, the certificate at the end is the new build EPC, and everything else we model sits on the main SAP calculations page.
Common questions
It depends on the size and complexity of the scheme — floor area, the number of house types and how complete the drawings are. Send your drawings and specification through the quote form for a fixed quote. Because the work is produced remotely, being in Northern Ireland does not add travel costs to the price.
No. Part L is the England and Wales approved document, and Section 6 applies in Scotland. In Northern Ireland the energy efficiency of new dwellings sits under Part F of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland), with the guidance published as Technical Booklet F1. SAP is still the assessment methodology, but the report must be prepared against the Northern Ireland guidance. Confirm the current edition with your district council building control.
No. A design-stage SAP is modelled entirely from drawings, build-ups and the services specification, so no site visit is needed — email the plans, elevations and sections and the assessment is produced to the same accredited standard as anywhere else. The as-built stage needs the air-pressure test result and any on-site changes, which arrive by email from your builder or tester.
Building control in Northern Ireland is run by the eleven district councils — Belfast City Council, Lisburn & Castlereagh, Ards & North Down, Derry City & Strabane, Mid Ulster and the rest — rather than by private approved inspectors as in England. Your building control application goes to the council for the area the site sits in, and the SAP report is submitted alongside it.
Yes. For a new dwelling the EPC is generated from the completed as-built SAP rather than from a survey of the finished house, and it is lodged on the Northern Ireland register. That certificate is what your solicitor, lender or buyer will ask for at sale.
Tell us the property type and postcode — we'll come back with a fixed quote and the earliest available date.