March 2022

Building Regs
ARE YOU FITTING COMPLIANT DOORS?
Do you install doors that meet the upcoming new Building Regulations? Wayne Richards,
Deceuninck Aluminium’s Technical Manager, tells Total Installer why now is the right time
to get to know the upcoming changes.
The popularity of bi-fold doors has been a
modern success story, and has arguably
been the driving force behind the
resurgence of aluminium as a framing material,
as homeowners went on to replace all old timber
or PVC-U windows with new aluminium ones after
installing bi-fold doors.
Systems were designed to balance the thermal
efficiency required by Building Regulations with
the slim sightlines and security levels desired by
homeowners.
Until now, the balance has worked, but with
U-values dropping to 1.2W/m 2 K for windows, and
doors with a glazed area of greater than 60%,
going into newbuild properties from the summer,
and dropping even further by 2025, installers
are turning to their suppliers to find out if their
products can be adjusted to comply.
The obvious first thought is: would using a
triple glazed unit improve the overall thermal
performance enough to comply?
Deceuninck Aluminium’s
Wayne Richards
“Older systems were actually designed for a
double-glazed unit, so there’s a maximum width
of unit you can get into the frames”
“Older systems were actually designed for a
double-glazed unit, so there’s a maximum width
of unit you can get into the frames,” Wayne
Richards, Deceuninck Aluminium’s Technical
An example of Deceuninck’s Bi-Fold door
Manager, explained.
“So, the question is not about the number of
panes of glass, but how deep you can go, and
with older systems you are typically limited to a
28mm-32mm unit.”
This, he argued, limits the design in terms of
thermal performance.
Since the Decalu88 Bi-Folding Door from
Deceuninck Aluminium can incorporate units with
thickness ranging from 12mm to 62mm, you have
greater control over the thermal performance.
“If we went for a standard centre-pane U-value of
1.0W/m 2 K on the bifolding door, we can achieve
an overall U-value of 1.13W/m 2 K,” Wayne said.
“This means our door can comply with the 2022
Part L revisions with a double-glazed unit.
“And if we went for a 0.4W/m 2 K centre-pane
U-value, we can achieve an overall performance
of 0.68W/m 2 K with a triple-glazed unit.
Continued on page 42
40 T I MARCH 2022
PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST