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From January 1st 2013 on, the French energy performance regulation will demand that the airtightness level is justified and that airtightness of a building should be below 0,6m3/h/m² at 4Pa for single family housing and 1m3/h/m² for multi-family dwellings, resulting into an important growth in the airtightness market. It is the role of the State to accompany this market evolution and to supervise the quality of airtightness measurements used for the EP calculation. This is why it has been decided that there are two possibilities to justify the airtightness level of a building. Either the constructor makes a systematic measurement of their building or the constructor proves they have a quality management approach so that more than 85% of their production reaches the wanted airtightness.
In order to ensure the quality of the quality management schemes for airtightness, a specific committee has been created. Its goal is to authorize constructors to justify an airtightness level by a quality management scheme. The CETE de Lyon is in charge of this committee.
This paper deals with the role and results of the committee and discusses the advantages and issues raised by such authority, thanks to the experience gained by the CETE de Lyon on these matters. Results show an improvement in the airtightness levels reached by authorized constructors in comparison to levels reached without any quality management
approach. Flaws in the control process and biased tests show several possibilities for the State to improve the frame of this authorization.