Status: The Scottish Government's Stage 2 consultation was published on 24 July 2026 and closes on 16 October 2026. Its ventilation proposals are questions for consultation, not final technical-handbook requirements.
The official Scottish Government consultation reviews Standard 3.14 and the guidance introduced in February 2023. Standard 3.14 requires ventilation that protects indoor air quality and health; Annex 3.A supports the process from system selection through installation and commissioning.
What is being considered
Current guidance links the ventilation solution to fabric infiltration and recommends mechanical supply and extract where infiltration is below 3 m³/(h·m²) at 50 Pa. The consultation asks whether teams should remain free to select any solution that demonstrates compliance with Standard 3.14, and whether additional MVHR guidance would help.
It also considers separating the ventilation solution from the measured or designed fabric-infiltration rate. The reasoning is practical: infiltration is uncontrolled and can vary with weather, workmanship and how a building is used. A designed ventilation system should therefore be understood through its intended air paths, controls and commissioned performance rather than relying on incidental leakage.
Why this matters before award
For a contractor, the immediate issue is not to redesign the system in response to a consultation. It is to confirm which handbook edition, issued design and project specification apply. A tender that says only “provide ventilation to current standards” leaves open questions about system type, controls, air-terminal locations, commissioning and the evidence required at handover.
MVHR also creates interfaces beyond the duct installation: unit location and maintenance access, intake and exhaust separation, condensate, electrical and controls requirements, acoustic treatment, fire strategy and the available ceiling or roof zone. Those decisions need to be coordinated while changes are still inexpensive.
Project-team checks
- Confirm the regulatory basis.Record the applicable Scottish Technical Handbook edition and any project-specific performance brief.
- Freeze the design responsibility.Identify who selects the system, sizes airflow, resolves acoustics and approves changes.
- Coordinate the complete route.Review plant, terminals, penetrations, access, fire interfaces and condensate before manufacture.
- Define commissioning evidence.Agree test methods, records, settings and handover information before mobilisation.
- Track the consultation correctly.Monitor the eventual government response without presenting proposals as current law.
What to include in a ventilation RFQ
Send the current drawings, specification, schedules, airflow information, controls description, construction programme and known access constraints. If the team expects a change in the regulatory strategy, identify it as a risk or hold point rather than asking installers to price an undefined future requirement.
Cliventa's scope-before-award guide and handover checklist provide a practical starting point for defining those interfaces.
Keep proposal and requirement separate
This is a project-delivery summary, not design or legal advice. The published Scottish handbooks, the appointed designers and the final government response determine the applicable solution. The useful action now is to make the design basis and evidence trail explicit.