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Architects

Specifying Safe Access

AtticZone allows architects to meet building regulations in both domestic and commercial properties. See details below for our UK specifications, along with technical documentation downloads.

  • CDM requires safe raised access in the attic space
  • Part L requires deep insulation
  • There is a demand to use the attic for storage
  • AtticZone is the only solution for all of these

 

The Only Way To Fully Comply With Building Regulations.

Until now, it has been very difficult for architects to meet the requirements of conflicting regulations that require low U-values in the attic but also safe maintenance access to equipment there. AtticZone StoreFloor is the only solution to all of these regulations and, for the first time, a product can now be specified that offers total rather than just partial compliance.

It has long been a legal requirement for architects to provide safe access pathways to equipment in the attic that will need maintenance. For example, the UK’s CDM Regulations 2015 state that “designers must consider their designs and any potential risks which may affect those who may maintain or clean the building once it is built”. At the same time, the attic must be insulated adequately and the old method of using raised timber battens causes cold bridging, which changes the SAP score for the roof, and must be accounted for with a psi factor correction.

AtticZone StoreFloor uniquely solves this problem. The product forms a safe structure for a storage or access deck above up to 350mm of insulation without causing cold bridging, whilst being cheaper and faster to install than timber. For U-values requiring more than 350mm of conventional insulation, one layer of timber cross-battens can be laid to raise up the AtticZone  supports, or insulation of a higher thermal resistance used. AtticZone StoreFloor has passed all required industry tests and is the only raised attic floor system that has BBA certification.

 

Protecting Insulation.

According to Britain’s largest ever survey of how people use their attics, carried out by the Carbon Trust, 82% of people living in UK private and social houses use their attic for storage. Of these, 78% said their attic was “more than half full” and 65% had boarded their attic already. Of the total population, 76% said that using the attic for storage was either “very important” or “essential”. This has a massive implication on the real-life U-value of the attic in use. Tests by the National Physical Laboratory showed that compressing insulation from 270mm to joist height reduces its thermal resistance by 50-60%, thereby at least doubling the heat lost. In fact, compressed attic insulation accounts for a 28% In-Use Reduction factor in the U-value for deep attic insulation across the whole UK housing stock.

It has long been a legal requirement for architects to provide safe access pathways to equipment in the attic that will need maintenance. For example, CDM Regulations 2015 state that “designers must consider their designs and any potential risks which may affect those who may maintain or clean the building once it is built”. At the same time, the attic must be insulated adequately and the old method of using raised timber battens causes cold bridging, which changes the SAP score for the roof, and must be accounted for with a psi factor correction.

AtticZone StoreFloor uniquely solves this problem. The product forms a safe structure for a storage or access deck above up to 350mm of insulation without causing cold bridging, whilst being cheaper and faster to install than timber. For U-values requiring more than 350mm of conventional insulation, one layer of timber cross-battens can be laid to raise up the AtticZone supports, or insulation of a higher thermal resistance used. AtticZone StoreFloor has passed all required industry tests and is the only raised attic floor system that has BBA certification.

 

We are now AtticZone!

Our US site has recently undergone a rebranding from LoftZone to AtticZone, but don’t worry if you’re looking for our UK site, you can still find it at www.loftzone.co.uk.

Take a look at our rebranded site, we’re sure you’ll love it as much as our Attic boarding!