Provide easy-to-read information

You must provide homeowners with information to help them use their new homes in a healthy and energy efficient way.

You must make sure any information you provide is:

• easy-to-read and understand
• specific to the home
• durable
• in an accessible format

Give owners a home user guide

You must give homeowners a user guide about how to operate and maintain the services and systems included in their new home.

The guide must cover the following areas:

• heating and domestic hot water
• renewable energy - for example, on-site electricity generation
• staying cool in hot weather
• ventilation

It also must refer to each of the services and systems and explain: 

• what they are
• what they are for
• their location - including a floor plan
• how they operate - including the location and operation of timers and sensors
• how they are maintained 

Include other information

You must provide homeowners with other information as part of or alongside the guide. 

Under the new conservation of fuel and power regulations (known as ‘Part L’) you must include or direct homeowners to:

• signed copies of the Building Regulations England Part L (BREL) compliance reports 
• photos of key stages of construction
• the recommendations report generated with the ‘on-construction’ energy performance certificate
• any manufacturer’s operating and maintenance instructions for fixed building services or on-site electricity generation systems
• 
  

Find full details in Section 9 of Conservation of fuel and power: Approved Document L.

Under the new ventilation regulations (known as ‘Part F’) you must include or direct homeowners to:

• a copy of the completed commissioning sheet from Appendix C of the Part F regulations
• specific instructions on how and when to use ventilation systems
• any manufacturer’s operating and maintenance instructions - including design flow rates and manufacturer’s contact details
• 
  

Find out the full details in Section 4 of Ventilation: Approved Document F.

Under the new overheating regulations (known as ‘Part O’) you must include or direct homeowners to:

• on outline of the overheating mitigation strategy - including the time of day and year when it should be used
• any manufacturer’s operating and maintenance instructions - including manufacturer’s contact details

Find full details in Section 4 of Overheating: Approved Document O.

Use the official template

You can use the home user guide and ventilation guide templates provided on GOV.UK:

However, the regulations do not require you to follow the layout, format or example text used in the template. 

Provide information for SAP and building control

You must also provide details for SAP assessors and local building control to show how homes meet the new regulations.

Find out how to provide information for SAP assessors and building control.



Keep up to date

Use the Future Homes Hub to keep up to date with changes to the building regulations and the introduction of the Future Homes Standard.

Check what you need to do to meet the new regulations through our detailed guides.

Find out more

Find new regulations in the official Approved Documents on GOV.UK:

• 
  Conservation of fuel and power: Approved Document L - ‘Part L’
• Overheating: Approved Document O - ‘Part O’
• Ventilation: Approved Document F - ‘Part F’