Latest technical review of Approved Document B – our response

We’ve responded to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ consultation on proposed amendments to Approved Document B – the guidance on meeting the fire safety requirements set out in building regulations.

Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the government committed to reviewing Approved Document B, and as part of this consultation has proposed the following changes:

• To require sprinklers in all new care homes, regardless of the height of the building.
• To remove the national classification system for describing construction products’ reaction to fire and fire resistance, and require all relevant construction products to be classified to the British Standards version of the European Classification.
• To require new residential buildings that are above 30m in height to be designed and built with two staircases.

In our response, we support the government’s proposals for a requirement for sprinklers in all new care homes, regardless of the height, as well as the government’s proposals to remove the national classifications for describing construction products’ reaction to fire and fire resistance from Approved Document B.

We also support the government’s proposal for requiring second staircases in residential buildings above a certain height, however we are not advocating for a particular height threshold at which a second staircase should be required.

In the consultation, the government sets out that buildings 30m and above should be required to have a second staircase based on the fact that 30m is a recognised trigger of additional risks in buildings overall. We would like the government to share the evidence supporting the decision for the provision of a second staircase at a 30m threshold, or the evidence in support of whatever height threshold the government ultimately requires a second staircase at.

If you’d like any further information on the proposals or our response, please get in touch.

Download our response