Air tightness
Registered under ATTMA, domestic and commercial.
The blower-door test is carried out directly, and the compliance certificate is issued for the Building Standards submission.
Domestic & commercial
ATTMA air testing · SITMA sound testing · Inverness
Every house leaks air. We measure where.
Air tightness and sound insulation testing for new-build and refurbishment projects across Scotland — tested on site, certified on completion, and emailed straight on for Building Standards.
- 50 Pathe test reference
- ATTMA · SITMAregistered schemes
- Inverness8 Culduthel Smithy Gardens
01 The test
The fan goes in last — and only once the house is ready for it.
An air test is a sequence, not a visit. What the fan reads depends on what stage the building had reached when it was switched on.
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01Prepare
Close the building up.
Every opening closed, every extract fan and flue sealed, and the envelope finished. A test on a half-built house measures the half-built house — so the stage matters as much as the reading.
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02Pressurise
Put the house under pressure.
A fan is mounted in a doorway and runs until the inside is held at 50 pascals above — or below — the outside air. That fixed pressure is what makes one building comparable with the next, and it is the reference every ATTMA test uses.
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03Measure
Read the flow, issue the paper.
The airflow needed to hold that pressure is the leakage rate. It is recorded on site, and the certificate is produced on completion and emailed to you for onward submission to Building Standards.
02 The gauge
Fifty pascals. The same number in every house.
Push harder and more air escapes. Push softer and less does. A leakage figure without a fixed pressure means nothing — so the test is pinned to a reference.
Fifty pascals is about half a centimetre of water. Hold the building there and the airflow needed to do it is the measurement. Quote it at 50 Pa and a small house in Inverness can be set beside a flat in the Borders on the same terms, by the same scheme.
- Reference
- 50 Pa
- Air permeability
- m³/(h·m²) at 50 Pa
- Scheme
- ATTMA
ATTMA is the scheme Planit X test under; the certificate is theirs, issued on completion.
03 The second test
The same building, measured a second time — for sound.
SITMA sound insulation testing follows the same shape: a controlled source, a measured result, a certificate at the end. This time on the parts that separate one home from another.
Airborne
Voices, televisions, music.
Sound travelling through the air, then through the structure that divides two homes. An airborne test measures how much of it a party wall or separating wall lets past.
Impact
Footsteps, a chair, something dropped.
Sound travelling through the structure itself. An impact test measures the party floor — which is why a carpet and an underlay are doing more work than they look.
04 Certification
Two schemes, one certificate each.
Planit X carry out the testing directly under both schemes, and issue the compliance paperwork themselves when the test is finished.
Sound insulation
Registered under SITMA, for party walls and floors.
Acoustic testing is carried out directly, and the sound test report is issued on completion for onward submission.
Party walls & floors
“Certificates recognised by Scottish Building Standards.”
— Planit X's own description of the paperwork they issue. Logos reproduced from their site.05 Areas
Inverness, and out from there.
Their published coverage runs from Inverness and the North East to the furthest corners of the Highlands and Islands — and, in their words, across a large majority of Scotland.
- Invernessbased here
- The North Eastmainland
- Highlands & Islandsincluding the islands
- “A large majority of Scotland”their words
06 Experience
Thirty-five years in construction. Fifteen of them testing air.
Planit X's own account of the practice — and the experience behind their point about testing at the right stage of a build.
35+years in construction
15years air testing
10years sound testing
Previously trading as Highland Air Tightness Limited. They also say they respond quickly to enquiries and will test at the appropriate stage of the project — which is the part that decides whether a result is any use to you.
All experience figures as stated by Planit X.
07 Compliance
Confused by Section 5 or Section 6 Building Standards?
Target air permeability rates, sound insulation testing exemptions, and how to prepare a site to pass first time — their compliance FAQ hub sets the answers out in one place, rather than across a dozen building warrant queries.
Section 5
Section 6
Read the compliance FAQ
08 Contact
Book a test — or ask what stage your site needs.
Tell them what stage the building has reached and what the warrant needs. The certificate is produced on completion and emailed across for Building Standards.
07801 441092 8 Culduthel Smithy GardensInverness
At a glance
- Schemes
- ATTMA · SITMA
- Carried out
- On site, by Planit X
- Issued
- Certificate or report on completion
- Sent
- Emailed for Building Standards
- Based
- Inverness