The Government has published a document listing amendments to Volumes 1 and 2 of Approved Document B which will come into effect in September 2026.
These amendments principally concern:
- Threshold for the provision of a second staircase in blocks of flats with a storey 18m or more in height.
- Evacuation shafts are introduced to support the provision of evacuation lifts.
- Changes to provisions for fire doorsets.
- New terminology including definitions for evacuation shaft, evacuation lift lobby, interlocked stair and storey exit.
- Provisions for horizontal escape and vertical escape separated as per the structure of Volume 2.
The 2019 edition incorporating the 2020 and 2022 amendments will continue to apply where a building notice or an initial notice has been given to, or a building control approval application with full plans made to, the relevant authority before 30 September 2026 and either the building work to which it relates:
- has started and is sufficiently progressed before that day; or
- is started and is sufficiently progressed within the period of 18 months beginning on that day
You can view the amendments at the link below:
Fire safety: Approved Document B
FIS will publish further detailed guidance on these changes in the coming months.
See more news likes this
Stark Warning in Government Response to FIS on Building Safety Blame
Government has made it clear that it is lining up changes to the Defective Premises Act and Section 38 of the Building Act 1984 to ensure the construction sector is "held to account for building safety issues". In a letter to FIS, the Department for Levelling Up,...
Government introduces temporary change to fit notes
The government has introduced temporary changes to the rules on the requirement for employees to provide proof of sickness to try to reduce the workload of GP’s as they focus on the booster vaccination programme. Where an employee goes off sick on or after 10 December...
New CSCS Smart Check app to revolutionise card verification procedures
A new app, developed by the 38 card schemes displaying the CSCS logo, is set to radically improve the construction industry’s card checking procedures and site safety. The CSCS Smart Check app represents a major step forward as, for the first time, all 2.1 million...