Communities department rejects move from hot box testing to in-situ performance assessment

Multifoil manufacturers have been dealt a blow following the announcement from the Department for Communities and Local Government that there is not enough evidence to support the use of in-situ performance testing for multi-foil insulation products.

Currently hot box testing is the accepted international standard for testing insulation materials. However, in 2007 Actis, which makes thermo-reflective insulation products, obtained a ruling from the High Court after it complained that the communities department had failed to consult properly over a testing method that discriminated against its multi-foil insulation product.

Following the consultation on the proposals for amending Part L of the Building Regulations, the department commissioned a review of the test methods for determining the thermal performance of building materials.

It has concluded that there was “no new substantive evidence on the robustness, accuracy and repeatability to support the move from hot box characteristics to in-situ performances testing”.

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