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Part O (Approved Document O) overheating assessments across Leicestershire — Leicester City, Charnwood, Blaby, Harborough, Hinckley & Bosworth, Melton, North West Leicestershire and Oadby & Wigston. CIBSE TM59 dynamic thermal modelling for high-risk dwellings. 5 day turnaround for planning and Building Control submission.
Part O specialists · TM59 dynamic modelling · 5 day turnaround
Thanks — we'll confirm pricing and turnaround within one working day.
Leicestershire carries a high-risk overheating profile in places most counties do not. Leicester and Loughborough between them host three universities, and the resulting pipeline of purpose-built student accommodation and HMO conversions is largely single-aspect, city-centre and occupied through the summer — exactly the profile CIBSE TM59 flags. Add city-centre apartment regeneration in Leicester, high-density new build at Lubbesthorpe and around Hinckley, and Approved Document O applies across all of it. Part O came into force in June 2022 and covers all new residential developments and material changes of use that create new dwellings — including conversions, HMOs, student accommodation, and care homes.
A Part O Overheating Assessment is required at design stage to demonstrate the dwelling has been designed to limit solar and internal heat gains. The assessment is mandatory for Building Control sign-off and increasingly required at planning submission for major residential schemes across Leicestershire.
We deliver both the Simplified Method (suitable for lower-risk locations with standard mitigation) and the more rigorous Dynamic Thermal Modelling (CIBSE TM59) for higher-risk dwellings — particularly south- or west-facing apartments, single-aspect units, student rooms, or schemes in dense urban settings. Most Leicestershire planning conditions accept either route provided the methodology is correctly applied.
The Leicester Local Plan, Charnwood Local Plan and Blaby District Local Plan increasingly reference Part O risk evidence at validation stage. We deliver a full Part O Overheating Assessment package in 5 working days, suitable for both planning and Building Control submission.
Part O is desk-based, so location within Leicestershire makes no difference to delivery. We typically issue the Simplified Method assessment in 5 working days from a complete information pack, with TM59 dynamic modelling adding 2-3 days.
The fastest Part O turnarounds happen when we receive the full information pack up front: floor plans showing orientation, glazing schedule (frame and glass), shading details (any external shutters, brise-soleil, deep reveals), and the proposed ventilation / cooling strategy.
If the scheme is at outline planning, send what you have. We can run an initial risk screen using sensible assumptions to flag high-risk dwellings early — that's the cheapest stage to redesign overheating issues out of the scheme.
Major residential planning conditions in Leicestershire increasingly require Part O evidence at validation. Get in touch early and we'll work back from your submission date.
Local knowledge of overheating risk profiles, student accommodation constraints, and planning condition wording across every Leicestershire LPA.
Outside Leicestershire? See our Part O pages for Birmingham, Warwickshire, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire.
Part O is Approved Document O, the part of the Building Regulations covering overheating in new residential dwellings.
It came into force in June 2022 and applies to new builds, conversions, HMOs, student accommodation and care homes.
Yes for any new residential dwelling or material change of use creating a dwelling. This includes single-plot self-builds, multi-unit developments, apartment blocks, HMOs and conversions.
The Simplified Method uses fixed limits on glazing-to-floor area ratios and minimum openable areas, suitable for low-risk locations.
TM59 dynamic modelling simulates the dwelling hour by hour against CIBSE TM59 criteria — required for high-risk dwellings and recommended where the Simplified Method is too restrictive.
We recommend the lowest-cost mitigation — external shading (brise-soleil, shutters, deep reveals), reduced glazing g-value, increased openable area, MVHR with summer bypass, or in extreme cases mechanical cooling.
We re-run the model at no extra cost during the same project.
Part O does not generally apply to extensions to existing dwellings — only to new dwellings or material changes of use creating new dwellings.
Over-glazed extensions are covered separately under Part L.
Yes. Part O applies to purpose-built student accommodation and HMO conversions, and CIBSE TM59 carries a separate criterion for student residences where bedrooms are occupied overnight through the summer. Leicester and Loughborough have a large PBSA pipeline, much of it single-aspect and city-centre, which usually puts it in the high-risk category requiring dynamic thermal modelling rather than the Simplified Method.
Yes. We deliver Part O Overheating Assessments across all 8 LPAs in Leicestershire — Leicester City, Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Hinckley & Bosworth, Melton, North West Leicestershire, and Oadby & Wigston.
Part O is desk-based using CIBSE weather files, so location within Leicestershire makes no difference to turnaround.
5 day turnaround for the Simplified Method, 7-8 days for TM59 dynamic modelling. Send us your plans, glazing schedule and ventilation strategy — we'll quote within one working day.