Permissions and Regulations

It’s worth starting to get to know the relevant building and planning regulations early on, in case they have some obvious implications for your project. For example, your site may be in an Air Quality Management Area.  You need to consider:

  • Building control
  • Planning Permission
  • Air quality and emissions
  • Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 – Notifiable Projects

Our technical library contains many useful documents.

Building Control

The construction of biomass installation will often require a Building Warrant application. Advise of the Local Authority building control officer should be sought. For  more information on this please see guidance on domestic and non – domestic building standards in Scotland:

Planning

The construction of biomass installation will often require planning permission. Advise of the Local Authority planning officer should be sought.

Air Quality and Emissions

All biomass heating systems need a flue. These are not supplied by the boiler company. A flue is purpose designed duct for conveying exhaust gases from a wood fuel boiler to the outdoors. Flues must comply with building regulations and most new flues will need a building warrant. There are a range of regulations and requirements relating to biomass and air quality. Click here to find out more about the relevant regulations, the emissions from biomass boilers and how to control them. The flue will affect the efficiency of the installation and can increase servicing requirements; so care should be taken that the flue design is appropriate for the selected boiler model.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 – Notifiable Projects

In most cases a commercial biomass installation will be a notifiable project under these Regulations, see: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/index.htm

The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014

If you are supplying and charging for heat, or planning to, you need to understand these requirements:

Further Information

See our technical library section for lots more useful documents.