What to Look for in a Ventilation Solutions Partner

Ventilation systems offer an ideal solution, particularly Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) solutions. Not only do they provide a constant supply of fresh, filtered air, but they also regulate temperature and recover heat from outgoing air—saving energy and ensuring year-round comfort. Investing in adequate ventilation isn’t just a choice; it’s essential for creating healthier, more liveable spaces .

Regulatory considerations

Navigating the complex web of UK Building Regulations can be daunting, but it’s crucial for compliance and achieving successful project outcomes. The key regulations to know include:

Approved Document F

(Ventilation):

Sets minimum standards for maintaining indoor air quality.

Approved Document O

(Overheating):

Offers guidance on keeping homes cool, especially in increasingly airtight buildings.

Approved Document L

(Conservation of Fuel & Power):

Ensures energy-efficient and sustainable designs.

Approved Document B

(Fire Safety):

Focuses on maintaining fire safety without compromising ventilation performance.

Add to that the NHBC Standards, which dictate best practices for new-build homes, and it’s clear that compliance isn’t just a box to tick—it’s an integral part of delivering safe, efficient, and high-quality multi-dwelling units.

However, regulation can complicate project planning, making it more important than ever to partner with a ventilation expert who understands the evolving landscape and maintains current knowledge. Together, you’ll create future-proofed environments that are not just compliant but healthier and more comfortable for the people who live in them.

From initial design stages to final handover and beyond, the success of your build project depends on having the right people by your side. A good ventilation solution partner should be able to support you at key stages of the RIBA Plan of Work process, particularly stages 2 through 6, providing expertise that ensures optimised performance and smooth delivery.

	Stage 2: Concept Design Collaborates with the design team to propose ventilation solutions that integrate seamlessly into architectural concepts.
	Stage 3: Spacial Coordination Ensures proposed systems fit within layouts, addressing spatial constraints and optimising ducting routes for efficiency.
	Stage 4: Technical Design Offers detailed product specifications, design support, and technical drawings to meet performance and compliance standards.
	Stage 5: Manufacturing & Construction Ensures timely delivery of products, provides installation guidance, and offers on-site support to maintain project timelines.
	Stage 6: Handover Supports the commissioning of systems, provides user training, and ensures documentation is in place for regulatory handovers.

End-to-end solutions

End-to-end ventilation solutions go beyond supplying a cohesive range of high-quality products. It includes a suite of value-added services designed to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and simplify project management at every stage.

An end-to-end solutions partner is more than just a supplier—they’re a collaborator who integrates seamlessly into your project workflow. With expert technical design advice, they can help optimise ventilation strategies to fit your unique requirements, even suggesting amendments that reduce costs without compromising performance. For example, they might recommend alternative ducting layouts or product selections to maximise energy efficiency and space utilisation.

During the specification phase of your project, they should bring in-depth knowledge of regulatory requirements and product capabilities to ensure your ventilation system is fully compliant and aligned with the project’s goals. If ventilation hasn’t been fully scoped at the design stage, they can step in to provide strategic guidance, giving you the confidence to move forward without delays.

The benefits of an end-to-end solutions partner extend well into the construction phase. A dependable partner offers on-site support, assisting your team with installation, troubleshooting, and real-time adjustments to keep the project on schedule. When it’s time for handover, they provide commissioning training, equipping your people with the skills to manage and maintain the system effectively.

This holistic approach simplifies project management by streamlining communication. Whether addressing technical queries during bidding or providing aftercare for installed systems, an end-to-end partner ensures that every detail is handled with precision.

Additionally, having a partner who can support bidding processes is invaluable. Their ability to offer clear, accurate specifications and regulatory assurances strengthens your proposals, increasing your chances of winning competitive tenders.

Single point of communication

In any construction project, juggling timelines, installations, and last-minute challenges can feel impossible without clear and consistent communication. That’s where a ventilation partner offering a single point of communication becomes invaluable.

Imagine having one dedicated expert by your side, guiding you through every stage, smoothing out complexities, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. With a centralised contact, you have a go-to person who knows your project inside and out. They coordinate schedules, resolve issues, and ensure the right support is always available.

Whether it’s an unexpected query during design, installation advice on-site, or final commissioning tweaks, you won’t be stuck chasing multiple teams for answers. Instead, your account manager ensures every detail is handled efficiently and precisely, keeping your project moving forward without delays.

But the benefits don’t stop there. A skilled account manager can tap into the wider expertise within their organisation to meet your needs. Need compliance advice? They’ll bring in the right regulatory specialist. Facing technical challenges? They’ll loop in a design expert. Their ability to enlist the right people at the right time streamlines the process, saving you from the back-and-forth of dealing with separate departments or third-party consultants.

Tested and certified products

When it comes to ventilation systems, quality and reliability are non-negotiables. Partnering with a manufacturer whose products are both internally and independently tested and certified ensures your project not only complies with stringent UK standards but also performs to the highest expectations.

Independently tested products bring an added layer of assurance. They’ve undergone rigorous evaluations to confirm their efficiency, safety, and suitability for real-world applications. The best partners, however, take testing one step further by performing individual product testing instead of batch testing. This approach ensures that every unit leaving the factory meets exacting performance and electrical standards, eliminating the risk of variability or hidden defects.

Working with certified systems helps you avoid costly delays or compliance issues, making project delivery smoother and more predictable. And with individually tested products, you can trust that what you install will perform exactly as promised, offering reliability and peace of mind.

What to look for:

Choose a partner that provides systems that are compliant with SAP, ISO 9001, and other relevant standards. Products like MVHR units should also come with efficiency ratings and proven durability. Quality products not only guarantee performance but also minimise maintenance costs and downtime in the long term.

Clear, high-quality design documentation

For development consultants and contractors, time is money, and streamlined processes can make the difference between a smooth project and a chaotic one. That’s why the best ventilation partners provide clear, high-quality design documentation that simplifies workflows and integrates seamlessly into your design processes. With well-structured technical information readily available, you can confidently reuse and adapt solutions across projects, saving time and effort while maintaining dependable consistency.

The value of high-quality design documentation extends beyond the design phase. These documents should be easily interpretable, enabling all stakeholders to understand and apply them effectively. Detailed yet accessible schematics, performance data, test certificates, and installation guidelines ensure that everyone involved is working from the same playbook, reducing confusion and enabling collaboration across teams.

Clarity in design documentation also translates to more efficient installations. Misunderstandings during implementation can lead to costly errors, delays, and rework. By providing precise, comprehensive instructions, a reliable ventilation partner minimises these risks, helping to keep your project on time and within budget. Moreover, clear documentation makes it easier to achieve regulatory approvals, as inspectors can quickly verify that your ventilation systems meet all necessary standards—making compliance a breeze.

What to look for:

When selecting a ventilation partner, look for one who understands the importance of documentation that supports every stage of your project—from design and installation to handover. With clear, professional resources readily available, they’ll be able to help you work efficiently and build trust with your stakeholders, knowing that every detail has been accounted for.

Design services

A strong ventilation partner adds value to your project through robust design and technical expertise. They don’t simply supply products but actively review technical designs and provide informed recommendations.

This approach ensures that the product specification perfectly aligns with performance criteria, such as airflow rates, energy efficiency, and indoor air quality targets while staying within budget. Their expertise helps avoid overengineering or underperformance, striking the right balance between cost and capability.

Their role becomes even more critical for projects with high-density or complex layouts, such as multi-dwelling units or mixed-use developments. They can optimise ventilation layouts, recommend ducting routes and system configurations that maximise efficiency, and minimise installation challenges. This is particularly valuable when integrating multiple systems into a single building design.

What to look for:

Look for a company that offers support during the design phase, such as product selection guidance and integration advice to optimise IAQ and energy performance. Their input should result in systems that fit seamlessly into your overall design, from spatial coordination to technical compliance, reducing the risk of costly design changes later and ensuring efficient project execution.

Structured delivery

Organised and efficient delivery is as critical as the products themselves in fast-paced construction environments. For areas such as London, where space constraints, heavy traffic, and strict health and safety regulations can complicate logistics, a ventilation partner that takes a structured delivery approach can make all the difference.

With structured delivery, you not only gain a logistical advantage but also improve site organisation and efficiency—eliminating last-minute delivery concerns, even for the most demanding projects.

Partners like Titon take this a step further by offering floor-by-floor delivery. Instead of delivering bulk materials all at once, which creates clutter and confusion, they provide self-contained packages for each floor. This ensures that the right ventilation components are delivered precisely where they’re needed, when they’re needed, avoiding the hassle of sorting through duplicate parts or hunting for misplaced items and wasting time.

What to look for:

A reliable partner understands the specific challenges related to delivery and logistics and works proactively to meet stringent delivery requirements. From coordinating with your on-site teams to adhering to local safety regulations, the right partner will ensure your products arrive on time and meet all the necessary delivery standards.

Commissioning support

Proper commissioning is key for installing ventilation solutions that are fully optimised, compliant, and ready to deliver peak performance from day one. From adjusting airflow rates to fine-tuning controls, a partner that provides commissioning support ensures your system operates as designed. It also offers troubleshooting and maintenance guidance, following best practices to help you address minor issues upfront to avoid costly long-term complications.

Crucially, a good partner goes beyond technical setup to provide hands-on training and guidance. They ensure your team understands the system’s operation and maintenance through clear, practical instruction. This training fast-tracks implementation and gives you confidence that the system is set up for optimal performance.

Another critical aspect of commissioning support is on-site coordination. By coming in while building is underway, a strong partner can liaise directly with contractors, creating seamless integration with other building services and activities. Whether it’s balancing and performance testing or troubleshooting installation challenges, their on-site presence helps the project move forward as planned, avoiding delays or miscommunication between teams.

What to look for:

A proactive ventilation partner doesn’t just deliver the product and walk away—they provide hands-on assistance during the initial setup with value-adding commissioning support that equips your teams to set up systems that meet performance standards and regulatory requirements from the start.

Warranties and guarantees

When selecting a ventilation partner, comprehensive warranties and guarantees should be a given. At a minimum, the industry standard typically offers a 2-year guarantee, providing baseline protection against defects or faults. However, the best partners go further, offering extended warranties that demonstrate their confidence in their products and provide you with extra peace of mind.

A strong warranty safeguards your investment and reflects the reliability and quality of the systems you’re installing. Knowing that your ventilation partner stands firmly behind their products means fewer worries about unexpected maintenance costs or system failures down the line.

What to look for:

For added value, look for a partner who offers flexible extended warranties. This ensures long-term security, making meeting ongoing operational and compliance needs easier. By partnering with a provider with robust warranties and guarantees, you’re not just protecting your project but investing in trust and reliability that will last well beyond installation.

End user information

The effectiveness of any ventilation system doesn’t end with installation—it depends on how well it’s maintained and operated over its lifetime. This makes end-user information, such as comprehensive user manuals and clear instructions, vital to long-term performance and optimal indoor air quality.

These documents equip facilities teams, aftercare departments, and individual occupants with the knowledge to use and maintain their ventilation systems effectively. This includes straightforward guidance on tasks like filter replacements, servicing schedules, and troubleshooting, along with a transparent breakdown of associated maintenance costs.

A good ventilation partner doesn’t just provide generic manuals—they deliver tailored resources that meet the specific needs of your project. For example, bespoke documents can include detailed diagrams of the installed system, building-specific instructions, and maintenance recommendations that align with the property’s usage patterns. This level of detail gives professional maintenance teams and individual users everything they need to keep systems operating efficiently.

What to look for:

The right ventilation partner provides aftercare departments with product usage and technical materials, supporting optimal product performance beyond project completion. For individual occupants, they provide easy-to-understand guides to reduce the likelihood of misuse or neglect, which can compromise air quality or shorten the system’s lifespan.

Ventilation systems require ongoing care to maintain peak performance. Regular maintenance not only saves energy and money but also ensures a healthy and comfortable indoor environment for longer.

Here’s why maintaining an MVHR system specifically is so important:

Ensuring Optimal Efficiency

Over time, filters, ducts, and the heat exchanger in an MVHR unit can accumulate dust, dirt, and debris. This buildup reduces the system’s efficiency, making it work harder to achieve the same performance. Regular maintenance keeps the unit running at peak efficiency, helping to maintain lower energy costs and ensuring it operates as designed.

Improving Indoor Air Quality

When filters are dirty or clogged, the system can recirculate contaminants such as dust, pollen, and mould spores, compromising the quality of indoor air, which can compromise occupants’ health. Regular filter replacement and servicing of MVHR units ensures that air is clean and free of harmful particles.

Preventing Systems Failures

Neglecting maintenance can cause components like fans, motors, and the heat exchanger to deteriorate, leading to unexpected breakdowns. Routine checks allow minor issues to be identified and resolved early, avoiding costly repairs, replacements, or interrupted operations.

Maintaining Heat Recovery Performance

The heat exchanger is the heart of the MVHR system, recovering heat from exhaust air to warm incoming fresh air. A dirty heat exchanger adds resistance to a system, meaning an MVHR will have to work harder, reducing the system’s heat recovery capability and increasing heating bills.

^{*A professional, ventilation specialist or maintenance company should be contacted for maintenance requirements. Titon does not assume liability for any maintenance-related activity carried out on Titon products.}

Choosing the right ventilation system is essential for ensuring optimal indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and compliance with building regulations. Different systems suit different building types and environmental goals, so having the guidance of an experienced partner can make all the difference.

Below is an overview of four key system types: Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR), centralised Continuous Mechanical Extract Ventilation (MEV), decentralised Continuous Mechanical Extract Ventilation (dMEV), and Natural ventilation with background ventilators & intermittent extract fans.

MVHR systems provide continuous fresh air while recovering heat from extracted air to warm incoming air, reducing heating demand. These systems are ideal for modern, airtight buildings where energy efficiency is a priority. By managing humidity levels and filtering out pollutants, MVHR also supports healthier living environments.

MEV systems extract stale air from wet rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms, ensuring continuous airflow throughout the building. They are simpler than MVHR systems but still offer reliable air quality improvements.

DMEV units provide continuous extraction from wet rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms. These units are installed directly through external walls, avoiding the need for extensive ducting systems. They operate at low noise levels and can significantly improve indoor air quality by reducing moisture, preventing mould growth, and removing pollutants.

Extract fans are cost-effective, targeted solutions for removing moisture and odours from specific rooms. They are commonly used in retrofits or as part of a broader ventilation strategy in less airtight buildings.

Choosing the right ventilation system requires a thorough understanding of factors like building size, occupancy patterns, airtightness, and energy efficiency goals. A knowledgeable ventilation partner can assess these variables and recommend the most suitable system for your project.

By working with an expert partner, you can confidently select and implement the best ventilation solution for your project, ensuring efficient performance, regulatory compliance, and occupant comfort.

Part of providing high-quality documentation is also providing easy access to accurate and detailed product information. Product specific microsites provide a one-stop hub for specifications, installation guides, and technical support materials, streamlining processes for project managers, installers, and aftercare teams. These digital resources, readily available within a few clicks, save time, reduce errors, and ensure the proper implementation of your chosen ventilation solutions.

A well-designed microsite offers immediate access to critical resources, empowering stakeholders at every stage of the project lifecycle. Whether it’s retrieving specs during design, referencing installation manuals on-site, or accessing compliance certificates during inspections, the convenience of a centralised information repository reduces project delays and keeps frustrations to a minimum.

For project managers, product microsites eliminate the need to juggle multiple documents or constantly liaise with suppliers for clarification. All essential details—from product dimensions to performance data— are readily available, making specification, ordering, and compliance tasks far simpler.

For installers, step-by-step installation guides, wiring diagrams, and troubleshooting materials ensure that systems are installed correctly and on time. Digital access means installers can pull up the exact resources they need on-site via a tablet or smartphone right when they need them.

A great example of effective resource microsites is Titon’s Ventilation Systems Resource Centre. It provides a comprehensive collection of tools and information for contractors, specifiers, and building professionals, including:

• Detailed specifications: Clear data sheets and performance summaries for every ventilation product.
• Installation guides: Accessible PDFs and videos to support proper installation practices.
• Compliance certifications: Easy-to-download documents like SAP ratings, CE markings, and regulatory approvals.
• Maintenance tips: Ongoing care instructions to ensure systems remain efficient and durable.

A successful ventilation strategy is built on more than just high-quality products—it requires the expertise, support, and reliability of a well-rounded ventilation solutions partner. From providing end-to-end solutions, tailored design services, and structured delivery to offering robust commissioning support and accessible digital resources, the right partner simplifies complexities at every stage of your project.

By choosing a partner who prioritises quality, compliance, and customer care, you not only get products that enhance indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and occupant comfort but also gain a trusted ally who lightens the workload, minimises the risks, and ensures your project runs smoothly—saving you time, money, and stress at every turn. By choosing expertise and trust, you can confidently achieve sustainable, regulatory-compliant ventilation outcomes that stand the test of time.

At Titon, we believe everyone deserves to breathe cleaner, healthier air. With decades of expertise in designing and manufacturing advanced ventilation solutions, we are passionate about creating systems that improve indoor air quality, enhance comfort, and contribute to healthier living and working environments.

From highly efficient MVHR systems ideal for airtight, energy-efficient homes to MEV solutions and extract fans suited to medium-density buildings or retrofit projects, Titon provides the versatility and performance you need for every development type.

Our commitment to quality and reliability is demonstrated through our ISO and SAP certifications, and we are dedicated to supplier excellence. Combining rigorous product testing with outstanding service ensures that our every solution exceeds expectations.

As a trusted end-to-end partner, we support your project from start to finish. Whether it’s helping you select the right system, providing tailored design advice, coordinating on-site support, or offering maintenance and aftercare resources, we ensure your ventilation systems perform seamlessly at every stage.