What is it?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas produced mainly as a result of incomplete combustion.
As it cannot be detected by the senses, assessing it requires specific instruments when there are potential sources in the building.
In indoor air quality assessments it is one of the chemical pollutants that can be assessed when the scope of the work requires it, particularly in buildings with combustion appliances or activities that may produce it.
A suspected acute risk is not a matter for an environmental assessment: it is referred to the competent services.
Where can it be found?
The main sources are boilers, water heaters, fireplaces, stoves, gas cookers, generators, combustion engines and other equipment that burns fuel.
It can also enter from car parks, garages or from outside in areas with heavy traffic.
The building’s ventilation and the proper maintenance of appliances have a decisive influence on the concentration present in the indoor environment.
How is it assessed?
What the inspection looks at
The technical inspection identifies combustion appliances and examines the characteristics of the building and its ventilation systems.
What is recorded for each measurement
Equipment, quantity, unit, location, date, measurement conditions and duration, together with the relevant limitations and the interpretation criterion applied.
How this factor is measured
When the assessment requires it, measurements are taken with specialist professional instruments to determine the concentration of carbon monoxide in the indoor air.
Results are interpreted taking into account how the appliances are operating, the ventilation conditions and the context of the building.
In assessments intended as expert evidence, calibrated instruments are used to ensure the reliability and traceability of the measurements.
Criteria
Interpretation uses recognised technical references for indoor air quality and the guidance or regulatory values applicable to carbon monoxide.
The assessment takes into account the intended use of the building, the time occupants spend there and the full set of environmental parameters assessed.
This guide does not publish values or thresholds. Technical criteria, legal limits and recommendations are different things and are not presented as equivalent.
Improvement measures
Work always begins by understanding and, where possible, reducing the source, before acting on the path or on the space. Measures are prioritised by expected effect, feasibility and proportionality, and no products are recommended by default.
The measures depend on the source identified during the assessment. Options that may be considered include:
- Checking and maintaining combustion appliances.
- Improving ventilation.
- Correcting defects in flue gas extraction.
Each recommendation is made after an individual assessment.
How Cemprotecta helps
This factor is not assessed on its own. It is measured as part of an assessment that treats the space as a system, because its presence depends on the condition of the combustion appliances and on how the building is ventilated.
What an assessment gives you is knowing what is there, where it is and what can be done about it, with an ordered sequence of measures rather than a list of problems.
- Inspection of the space and of accessible installations.
- Measurement or sampling in the rooms where people spend most time.
- Combined interpretation with the other factors assessed.
- A report with measures ranked by their expected effect on exposure.
Request an assessment
If this factor concerns you in your home or workplace, tell us about your case. The prior inspection will determine whether it is worth measuring and what else should be assessed alongside it.