Building regulations can foster quality management - the French example on building airtightness

Fact sheet #01 describes how a quality management scheme has been introduced in the French energy regulation to encourage professionals to question their current practice and find effective solutions to improve building airtightness. The scheme allows successful applicants (mostly builders of single-family dwellings) to justify for a given airtightness level without systematic third-party testing. The fact sheet details the basic principles of the approach as well as the requirements applicants have to fulfil. It also builds on the evaluation and lessons learnt by state authorities on the scheme itself and its actual results.

At the end of 2014, 81 such quality management approaches have been approved representing a production of about 15.500 buildings per year. Overall, the evaluation shows the benefits of the approach to secure actual airtightness levels and to contain testing costs. The replication potential of this approach seems high, but the fact sheet shows a number of details that must be carefully addressed for successful implementation in other contexts.