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© 2019 RICS© 2018 RICS

Building Regulations Update

John Miles BSc(hons) MRICS

RICS Building Control Professional Group and Technical & Business Development Manager – Assent Building Control

© 2019 RICS

1. Overview of the Building Regulations

2. Recent Changes

3. Hackitt Review

4. Future

5. Questions

Building Regulations Update 2019

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© 2019 RICS© 2018 RICS

Overview of the Building Regulations

The structure and state of our regulations.

© 2019 RICS

• Health and Safety of people in and around buildings

• Conservation of fuel and power

• Access to buildings

Waste, undue consumption, misuse or contamination of water

Protection or enhancement of the environment

Facilitating sustainable development

Furthering the prevention or detection of crime

Purpose of the Building Regulations

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• Enforced by Building Control Bodies – LA’s and AI’s and approved bodies (e.g. Gas Safe / FENSA / NICEIC)

• Devolved from Government – i.e. no formal inspection regime and no formal reporting mechanism

• Unlike Planning – works on Compliance not Plan approval

• Regulations are principles – supported by guidance (AD’s / BS)

• Does not constrict design or innovations

• Competition has improved standards?

The Application of Building Control

The system that governs our developments

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Building Regulations 2010Building Act 1984

Approved DocumentsODPM and others

NHBCTRADA

Codes of PracticeBritish Standards

Euro codesTechnical Information

Specialist GuidesHTM's

Building BulletinsCrown Fire Standards

Compliance with Regulation

Hierarchy of Guidance

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Part A (2013) Minor updates, wind maps, disproportionate collapse

Part B (2013) Under review following the Grenfell Fire

Part C (2013) RADON maps update & further contaminated land guidance

Part D (2010) No significant changes since 1992

Part E (2015) Schools update – BB 93

Part F (2010) Increase in ventilation to compensate for air tightness / testing

Part G (2015) Changes to water efficiency / planning

Part H (2015) Changes to solid waste storage

Approved Documents

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Part J (2013) Concealed flues, tank bunding, CO2 detection

Part K (2013) Amalgamation of AD N and consistency with AD M

Part L (2013) Raising standards over 2010 targets (Review to take place)

Part M (2015) Changing placed requirement coming for public buildings.

Part N (1998) Manifestation, Marking of safety glass

Part P (2013) Reduction in notifiable work, 3rd party certification

Part Q (2015) New Requirement – Security

Part R (2017) New Requirement – Physical Infrastructure for High-Speed Electronic Communications Networks

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Approved Documents

• An essential and well used resource

• 90% of designers will use the Approved Documents to demonstrate compliance

• AD B is the most used

• 83% use online PDF copies

• Professionals involved in standard buildings are the largest group of AD users

• 50% of designers think they must adhere to the Approved Documents

• More users want prescriptive guidance

• Users want clearer diagrams and pictures, and simpler language

• Suitable for the present but not for a digital future?

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Approved Documents

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Hackitt Review

Catalyst for change

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Hackitt Areas of Concern (Interim Report)

• Roles and responsibilities not clear

• Compliance, enforcement and sanctions too weak

• Inadequate competency in key areas

• Complexity of Regulations and guidance

• Residents have no voice in safety

• System of product testing, marketing and

QA is not clear

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Hackitt Areas of Concern (Final)

• New regulatory framework• Roles and responsibilities• Compliance• Enforcement

• Clearer Regulation and Guidance

• Industry Competence

• Communication• Residents voice• Golden thread

• Procurement and supply• Testing• Marketing

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DO NOT WAIT FOR GOVERNMENT! IT’S YOUR INDUSTRY

Big Hackitt Message

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Roles and Responsibilities

Compliance

Enforcement

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CDM type approach

Compliance - Dutyholders

• Client

• Principal Designer

• Principal Contractor

• Fire Safety Manager

Enforcement

• JCA

• Safety Case

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Safety Case

• Hackitt – “What is built is not what was designed”

• Value engineering – “Neither value nor engineering”

• Safety case vs now• What, who, how?• Formal role as co-ordinator of compliance issues• Change management and notification• Approval to start, approval to occupy• Statement of conformity

• Enforcement intervention – JRG with Early adopters

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Clearer Regulation and Guidance

Regulation

Guidance

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Regulation 7 (2)• Materials which become part of external walls or specified attachment of relevant

buildings shall be at least A2 s1 d0

Regulation 7 (3) – Exemptions• Cavity trays in masonry walls, doors - windows & frames, electrical installations,

insulation below GL, membranes, etc.

“Relevant Buildings”• Storey over 18m• Dwellings or Institution• Rooms for Residential Purposes (except hotels, hostels, Boarding Houses)

Enabling Regulations• Interpretation – “external wall”, “specified attachment” ( balcony, brise soleil, solar

panel)• Regulation 4 and regulation 5/6 requirements

New Regulatory Requirements - Dec 2018

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Consultation on amendment to Part B

• Call for evidence recently carried out

• RICS responded

• Further discussion/consultation

• RICS/RIBA/CIOB joint stance on sprinkler provision

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Sprinklers - Joint RICS, RIBA, CIOB Statement

We support the installation of sprinklers in all new & converted residential buildings, hotels, hospitals, student accommodation, schools and care home buildings 11m or above in height, and retrofitting to existing buildings when refurbishment occurs as ‘consequential improvements’ where a building is subject to 'material alterations’. We also support the installation of AFSS including sprinklers below this height on a case by case basis of risk.

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Property protection – Community assets

Fundamental review of baseline assumptions• Fire severity• Modern uses of buildings• Stay put or total/phased evacuation

Active/passive cocktail

Discrepancies/ contradictions in sector guidance

Other important pointers

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“Desktop Assessments”

Suspended pending review

Support for the concept but need to be controlled

MUST be drawn from actual test data and stay within realistic parameters

Assessments in Lieu of Testing

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Industry Competence

Accreditation

Competence

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1 – Engineers

2 – Installers

3 – Fire Engineers

4 – Fire Risk Assessors

5 – Fire Safety Enforcement Officers

6 – Building Control / Standards Inspectors

8 – Building Safety Managers (Building Safety Coordinators

7 – Architects / Building Designers (Building Designers))

9 – Site Supervisors

10 – Project Managers

11 – Procurement

12 - Products

Competency Working Groups

WG0 – Overarching Competence Body

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Likely Competency Matrixes

• Number of levels general technical competency (4?)

• Ethical competencies

• Ethical statement

• Focused on HRRB at first but applicable to all buildings

• Mechanism for control still up in the air

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Communication The Golden Thread

Regulation 38

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What is Regulation 38?

Changes to Fire Safety responsibility in 2005 - Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order

Onus was placed on the ‘responsible person’ to:

“make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under this Order.”

Complementary change was made to Building Regulations – Regulation 38 – Fire Safety Information

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What does it say?

Regulation 38 says:

“the person carrying out the work shall give fire safety information to the responsible person not later than the date of completion of the work, or the date of occupation of the building or extension, whichever is the earlier”.

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What is going wrong?

• No requirement to submit copy of info to Building Control - Only confirmation that it has been delivered

• CDM Safety File and traditional O and Ms are NOT Regulation 38 information

• Who is Responsible person at completion?

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What is needed?

• Purpose – Give end user sufficient information to allow them to complete a Fire Risk Assessment of the building

• A simple test – is it sufficient to allow such an assessment to be undertaken

• Consultants are now offering Regulation 38 services

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Procurement and supply

Testing Relevance

Marketing Accuracy

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Existence/Relevance of Test Data

• Realisation that fire testing is benchmark

• BS Fire Curve vs ‘Reality’

• 30 min fire door in 1hr wall

• Cladding on masonry then used on steel frame

• BS8414 test as test for B4?

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Marketing

• “Our products are suitable”

• ACM, A2 ACM, FR ACM

• Many changes being made

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BS 8414, BRE 135 / BS9414

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Government Next Steps

What are the government proposing

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Government Proposal

Government consulting on their proposals for implementation.

Goes beyond Hackitt and applies to building that are:

• lived in by multiple households; and

• 18 metres high (6 storeys) or more.

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A New Dutyholder Regime

For the new building safety regime to work, Government propose to introduce dutyholders who will be responsible for making sure buildings are safe. The dutyholder will have responsibility at different stage of the building life including:

• Part A – duties when a building is being designed and built• Part B – duties when people are living in the building• Part C – duties that run throughout the building’s life cycle

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Residents at the heart of a new regulatory system

Proposals will give residents a stronger voice and allow them tohold those responsible for the safety of their buildings toaccount. Residents will be empowered by having better accessto information about their building and have more of a say overdecisions made about the fire and structural safety of theirbuilding.

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Enforcement, compliance and sanctions

The Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety found that those responsible for the safety of buildings are not discouraged enough from failing to comply with their responsibilities as they are not often held to account by the current regulators.

Proposals to:

• Create new criminal offences to make sure that those responsible comply with their responsibilities;

• Give the new regulator the power to take quick and effective action, through monetary penalties such as fines, when the requirements of the new regime have not been met.

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Any questions?

johnmiles@assentbc.co.uk