With the Building Safety Act now in force, we are seeing changes to the wider building regulations continuing apace.  Below are two key changes of significant note.

  • The ban on the use of combustible materials in and on the external walls of buildings with a storey at least 18 metres above ground level has been extended to include hotels, hostels and boarding houses. Metal Composite Material panels with unmodified polyethylene core (MCM PE) have been banned on all new buildings of any height.
  • Announced last year, Approved Document B (Fire Safety) also now includes new requirements for external walls and balconies on new residential buildings between 11 and 18 metres in height to limit the combustibility of materials.

FIS is working on summarising key changes to Approved Document B across the wider scope of interior products, so watch out for this guidance in the coming weeks.

There also remains an open consultation on national classifications as a way of demonstrating compliance within Approved Document B. To find out more and feed your views into the FIS survey about this consultation, click here.