Building regulations


The Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people after spreading rapidly from a fourth-floor flat throughout the 24-storey residential tower block, put the building and fire safety regulations in the spotlight. 


There are two sets of regulations containing fire safety requirements for workplaces. The Building Regulations 2010 (Part B) are concerned with the design and construction of buildings, while the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 contains requirements to safely manage buildings that are already in use. The fire safety regulations are examined in Chapter 8.


The Building Regulations 2010 aim to ensure that new buildings, alterations and extensions are designed and built with acceptable structural fire precautions in place. 


Building work must be carried out so that it complies with requirements set out in Parts A to P of Schedule 1 of the Regulations (regulation 4). These relate to structure (Part A), fire safety (Part B), site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture (Part C), toxic substances (Part D), sound resistance (Part E), ventilation (Part F), sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency (Part G), drainage and waste disposal (Part H), combustion appliances and fuel storage systems (Part J), protection from falling, collision and impact (Part K), conservation of fuel and power (Part L), access to and use of buildings (Part M), glazing — safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning (Part N) and electrical safety (Part P). 


The regulations set down rules for the fire resistance of various parts of structures while British Standards set out appropriate fire tests for different building materials and grade their level of fire resistance. Guidance on meeting the fire safety requirements contained in the building regulations is set out in Approved Document B. One volume of this guidance is concerned with fire safety in dwelling houses and the other provides guidance in other buildings, including workplaces. 


Approved Document B requires that the following structural fire precautions are in place:


• there are safe means of escape from the building;


• the internal and external stability of the building is maintained in the event of a fire and fire spread is prohibited; 


• wall linings and ceilings will resist the spread of flames and give off reasonable levels of heat if on fire;


• fire and smoke cannot spread to concealed spaces in a building’s structure; 


• the external walls and roof of a building will resist the spread of fire to the walls and roof of other buildings; and


• the building is easily accessible for fire-fighters and their equipment.


Following the fire, the government commissioned the former HSE chair Dame Judith Hackitt to carry out a review of the building regulations and fire safety. She published her final report, Building a safer future: independent review of building regulations and fire safety, in May 2018 and called for called for a “radical rethink of the whole system”. 


She said the current system is far too complex and lacks clarity, while regulatory oversight and enforcement is inadequate. She had already described the regulatory system covering high-rise and complex buildings as “not fit-for-purpose” in an interim report published in December 2017. In this latest report, she says regulations and guidance are not always read, and even when they are they are misunderstood and misinterpreted. She also said the primary motivation is to do things as cheaply and quickly as possible rather than to deliver quality, safe homes. 


She made over 50 recommendations, but the fire brigades’ FBU union, the TUC and other organisations criticised her for not recommending an outright ban on the use of combustible cladding materials on high-rise buildings. Fire Brigades Union FBU general secretary Matt Wrack called the lack of an outright ban on flammable cladding “perverse” and said the safest course of action for the public and for firefighters “is for these dangerous materials to be taken out of the equation entirely”. 


TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said the report made some good recommendations, including toughening up fire testing and improving the way buildings are certified as safe, but fell short of providing the sort of safety regime needed. He said there would be disappointment that a ban does not feature in the report and said there was a clear case for a legal requirement for a sprinkler system and a second means of escape in all high-rise buildings. He pointed out that both had been recommended following fatal fires but successive governments refused to implement them. 


Within hours of publication of Hackitt’s report, the government said it would consult on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings. It announced this on 18 June 2018. As the booklet went to press, it was also due to publish a consultation on clarifying building regulations fire safety guidance. It will give a more detailed statement in the autumn on how it intends to implement the new regulatory system. 


Building a safer future: independent review of building regulations and fire safety can be found on the government website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-building-regulations-and-fire-safety-final-report.