What is the BREL report?

The BREL report — Building Regulations England Part L report — is the formal compliance document showing that a new dwelling meets Part L's energy requirements. It is produced by the approved SAP software the energy assessor uses (under the Future Homes Standard edition, by approved SAP or, once live, HEM software), and it exists in two versions that bracket the build.

Design stage and as built

• Design-stage BREL: produced before or early in construction, from the dwelling's design specification. It records what the dwelling is intended to achieve.
• As-built BREL: produced at completion, reflecting what was actually built — every substitution, specification change and measured result. This is the version that must be signed, and it is the one that matters for sign-off.

Where the photographs come in

Appendix B of Approved Document L requires geotagged, date-stamped photographs of each key detail — foundations and substructure, external walls, roof, openings, airtightness details and building services — taken before those details are closed up, per plot. The as-built BREL is supported by that photographic evidence: the photographs go to the energy assessor and to building control, and in working practice assessors will not sign the as-built BREL, or release the EPC, until satisfactory photographs are in their hands. Since February 2025, accreditation schemes have also required the photographs when the EPC is lodged.

Under the 2026 edition of Approved Document L (the Future Homes Standard edition), where a dwelling's solar PV provision falls short of the standard, the shortfall is flagged in the BREL report and a dedicated PV evidence package must be given to building control.

Who gets it

The signed as-built BREL, together with the photographic evidence of build quality, must be given to the dwelling's owner at handover, as well as to building control. It is worth treating that copy seriously: industry guidance notes that a signed BREL is valuable evidence for the builder if a customer complaint or latent-defect claim surfaces years later.

Wales

Wales runs the equivalent report under its own Part L, commonly referenced as the BRWL, with photographic evidence likewise required for new dwellings and at EPC audit.

Where Buildsnapper fits

Buildsnapper does not produce the BREL — that is the assessor's SAP software. What it produces is the thing the BREL depends on: the per-plot, geotagged, Appendix-B-organised photographic evidence, delivered to the assessor in a form they can review and lodge without chasing missing images at completion.