Update: Non-Combustible Cladding Requirements Extended and Amended

Update: Non-Combustible Cladding Requirements Extended and Amended

There have been further changes to fire safety requirements in the Building Regulations and the use of non-combustible materials in and on the external walls of new flats, hospitals, student, school accommodation and dormitory buildings (originally introduced in 2018).

The announced changes take into account responses to the consultation process in 2020 and extend the scope of the requirements for non-combustible materials to cover hotels, hostels and boarding houses.  Other updates to the regulations include the following recommendations:

  • include elements of solar shading devices within the scope of the ban
  • amend the list of materials exempt from the ban to include fibre optic cables and insulation materials 300mm from ground level
  • update the requirement of the ban to refer to the latest version of the British Standard classification for materials used on high-rise residential buildings
  • temporarily exempt cavity trays
  • amend the requirements for material change of use in buildings

The cavity tray exemption is significant in the SFS sector as the exemption previously applied to:

(a) cavity trays when used between two leaves of masonry;

Whilst this statement remains unamended in the Approved Documents the changes announced in June 2022 include the following recommendation:

Exemptions – The legislation will amend the list of materials exempted from the combustible materials ban to include fibre optic cables and insulation up to 300mm from ground level. We will also provide an 18-month temporary relaxation for cavity trays in all forms of construction.

To support this Government has issued a dispensation notice that allows use of cavity trays that do not achieve the strict performance requirements of the ban – this exemption therefore comes into effect from the 1st June 2022.  FIS continues to work with officials and colleagues at the Construction Products Association to try to understand the rationale behind the temporary relaxation and what this means longer term.

The announcement also carries a number of recommended changes including allowing for new statutory guidance to restrict the combustibility of materials used in and on the external walls of residential buildings, between 11-18m in height.  This will mean that lower risk developments between 11-18m “must meet necessary safety standards – while allowing designers and developers flexibility to use environmentally friendly materials.”  Further consultation is anticipated on this aspect in the coming months.

A complete ban is to be introduced on the use of metal composite material with un-modified polyethylene core in all buildings of any height.

Unless specified, changes to the Building Regulations will come into force on 1 December 2022 (in line with the full publication of the revised Approved Document B).

We will continue to keep you updated, but if you have any comments you would like to feed in at this stage to our ongoing discussions with officials at DCHLUC, please don’t hesitate to play them in via joecilia@thefis.org

Full details available here.

Note this move will (for the period of the exemption) align more closely with the Scottish Building Standards that were extended on the 1 June to cover Buildings 11-18m.  These also exempt Cavity Trays from the combustible material list:  Changing legislation in Scotland – FIS (thefis.org)

This announcement coincides with the publication of a booklet containing ammendments to Approved Document B that will come into force from the 1st December 2022.

Cavity Tray Exemption – Further Details

Extract from the consultation response related to the Temporary Exemption of Cavity Trays:

In our consultation we proposed several changes to the list of exemptions in Regulation 7(3) including the temporary exemption of cavity trays in all forms of construction and the extension of the exemption of waterproofing and insulation materials.

Cavity trays are an essential wall component, installed in wall cavities to capture moisture that penetrates the outer face of the wall, preventing damp. Cavity trays are currently exempt only when used between walls constructed of two leaves of masonry. This type of construction is not common in modern high-rise buildings and industry has adapted by using stainless steel to produce cavity trays. However, industry has highlighted that this incurs excessive cost and there are issues with supply, installation and durability. Stainless steel is considered less durable than a plastic cavity tray and does not effectively prevent damp. There is increased potential for health and safety issues to arise if these products fail to adequately prevent moisture ingress and damp in buildings.

We are aware of some compliant non-combustible product on the market, however some industry stakeholders have expressed concerns over the installation of this product that may result in poor performance and issues of damp in buildings. We are aware that some developers have been unable to get a new homes warranty, making the homes unsaleable, due to concerns over the performance of non-combustible cavity trays.

The consultation proposed a temporary 18-month relaxation of the ban as it relates to cavity trays pursuant to Section 11 of the Building Act 1984. This would enable this matter to be resolved temporarily while maintaining industry momentum to develop adequate non-combustible alternatives. 68% of consultation respondents agreed with the proposal.

In the interest of health and safety, we will issue a type relaxation to allow industry to use cavity trays that do not achieve the strict performance requirements of the ban. We do not believe it is appropriate to permanently exempt cavity trays as it would hinder innovation in development of additional compliant products. It remains the clear intention of this government to ensure that non-combustible cavity trays are used in the external walls of building where they are already readily available and after the temporary exemption lapses.

How the Building Safety Act is Progressing

How the Building Safety Act is Progressing

If you’ve had a go at reading the Building Safety Act, well done!! It was described to me this week as a Lawyers Paradise, it is a complex document that cross references a myriad of different Acts and Secondary Regulation and particularly the latter is yet to be fully written.  We’ve even seen the documents like The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings) (England) Regulations 2022 (which included the provisions for how the Gateways are to be set out) temporarily withdrawn because they developed alongside the passage of the Building Safety Bill, but now don’t reflect the final Act, due to the number of amendments that the Government agreed to.

I spoke to the Regulator (HSE) at a Giri event this week and we talked about timings of the Gateways, the official timeline is looking at October 23 for the introduction of Gateway 2 and 3, but she went on to emphasise the gateways are about proving to the regulator you are compliant.  But, the Act is in force now and ultimately the question we need to answer is “am I certain this building meets the functional requirements of the building regulations when it comes to structural and fire safety and will do for the next 15 years”.   The Gateways are hard stop points that reassures the regulator that “construction won’t start until….” and “occupation will not happen until….” respectively.  There is a lot of detail in “until”, but at it simplest it is “Construction won’t start until we know what we are about to build is designed to be safe and we have effective controls in place to ensure design is achieved” and “Occupation won’t happen until you can convince the Building Inspector that that is what you did”.  They are also about information management to ensure that the buildings can be managed safely – we need to start thinking of the O&M Manual as something that is alive in the building than hidden in a drawer.

We’ve been exploring this all with members and colleagues across the wider construction sector, what it could mean in terms of timings and the order of things and when we need to be ready to work on the consultations around secondary regulations.  One thing that has definitely been missed by some is that it is not just about residential work it is about working on buildings that are deemed higher risk.  A lot falls into scope based on the premise that if the building is greater than 18m and has more than 2 dwellings in it, the entire building is in scope.  So if you are working on a commercial building with a couple of penthouse flats on top, it is in scope (regardless of the fact your work may not touch those residential properties).  The best guidance I have read so far is contained in the Guidance on Collaborative Procurement (link below), this includes some useful Q&A’s.  We are working on our own core guidance and will be fleshing this out over the coming weeks, but if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll do our best to unpick things for you.

As an indication of where the problems might be, we can look to the lessons from Gateway 1, where HSE has raised fire safety concerns on planning applications for more than half of the higher risk buildings for which applications were made under the planning gateway one process.  Whilst sadly much of this will be genuine areas of concern, others will be undoubtedly be fraggles in the process.

I remain convinced that the new Gateways are a force for good, they make single stage procurement processes less attractive and put the right emphasis on design development, pre-construction and change control as well as competence and planning, but there will inevitably be some pain in this and we do recommend you start looking out for any clauses that push the cost of delay into the supply chain where there is limited ability to control – remember this is start/stop do a failure to comply could leave e.g. a 12 week hole in a programme.  FIS is picking this up with our legal advisors.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Guidance on Collaborative Procurement

FIS high level summary of the Building Safety Act and what we know so far 

Webinar (22nd June): Facing the Building Safety Act with live data capture and Artificial Intelligence

 

Government issues guidance to support fire reform agenda

Government issues guidance to support fire reform agenda

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry in the Phase 1 report noted that “Fire doors play an essential role in preventing or inhibiting the spread of smoke and toxic gases and in preserving the effective compartmentation of buildings.” The Inquiry noted that the fire doors in Grenfell Tower did not, through damage and/or disrepair, act in the way that they should so that they prevent smoke and gases from spreading. The Inquiry recommended (Recommendations 33.29 (a) and (b)) that the owner and manager of every residential building containing separate dwellings carry out an urgent inspection of all fire doors to ensure compliance with current legislative standards and that regular (no less than every three months) checks be carried out to ensure all fire doors are fitted with an effective self-closing device which is in working order. In addition, the Inquiry recommended (Recommendation 33.30) that all those who have responsibility for the condition of the entrance doors to individual flats in high-rise residential buildings (with unsafe cladding) be required by law to ensure these doors comply with current standards.

Prior to the Fire Safety Act 2021, flat entrance doors in multi-occupied residential buildings may not have been routinely considered as part of the fire risk assessment process. The Fire Safety Act 2021 has removed the legal ambiguity and confirms that flat entrance doors are in scope of the Fire Safety Order.

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 will make it a legal requirement from 23 January 2023 for responsible persons for all multi-occupied residential buildings in England with storeys over 11 metres in height to:

  • Undertake quarterly checks of all fire doors (including self-closing devices) in the common parts; and,
  • Undertake – on a best endeavour basis – annual checks of all flat entrance doors (including self-closing devices) that lead onto a building’s common parts.

The regulations will also require responsible persons to provide to residents of all multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises (that have common parts) information on the importance of fire doors to a building’s fire safety.

 

 

 

Competence Framework – installer pilot report published

Competence Framework – installer pilot report published

Building Safety – First stage complete in journey towards fully competent installer workforce

The construction and built environment sector must maintain momentum to ensure the competence of installation organisations and employees as a key report highlights ‘red flags’ amid wider progress on Building Safety.

A report has been published setting out the current state of competence arrangements for those installing products and systems in buildings. Prepared by members of Working Group 2, which was set up as part of the post-Grenfell Competence Steering Group, volunteers from Working Group 2 have worked with six pilot installer sectors – Dry Lining, Domestic Plumbing and Heating, Fire Detection and Alarms, Fire Stopping Specialist, Rainscreen Cladding, and Roofing – to benchmark existing competence arrangements.

This Pilot – Phase One stage sets a baseline to identify shortfalls and considers the changes needed to create competence frameworks that comply with the recommendations of Setting the Bar. In 2020, Setting the Bar outlined how industry must improve the competence of those procuring, designing, constructing, inspecting, assessing, managing, installing and maintaining higher risk residential buildings.

The report recognises that good practice exists in each of the six sectors that allows them to demonstrate elements of competence. Yet there are elements of each sectors’ arrangements that the working group has red rated, showing that significant work is required to meet the requirements of Setting the Bar.

Each sector will now move to develop sector-specific competence frameworks that play to existing strengths and close off any red flag issues raised in the report. This process – which will also develop a timeline and implementation plan for each sector – is expected to take six to nine months.

The report also calls on other installer sectors to begin their own competence journey now, offering guidance to help them do so which Working Group 2 has developed during the pilots.

Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive who was a participant in the Dry Lining pilot, said:

“FIS has taken an active role in this work and will continue to work with our members and the wider sector to ensure that competency is understood, the support mechanisms needed to deliver a competent workforce are in place and that we are able to track, manage and reward competence effectively.  We have championed and led the Dry Lining work because it is an important part of most building operations, it is a labour intensive process and frankly has been hugely undervalued in the construction process.  This work is the building block, a  fresh start not only to delivering a better competency framework, but helping to raise the profile and change expectations about the vital work that dry liners do.  We do not underestimate the enormity of this task given the current socioeconomic backdrop, but do recognise that it is essential work that we must take on together.”

Mark Reynolds, Sponsor for the CLC’s People and Skills Network, said:

“Publication of Working Group 2’s latest report marks an important milestone in progress towards improved standards of installer competence in the built environment. The CLC will continue to do all we can to assist with the pilots and I would urge other installer sectors now to embark on their own competence journeys, drawing on the resources which Working Group 2 has provided.”

Nick Jarman, Chair of Working Group 2, said:

“There has been much collaboration since the formation of Working Group 2, focussed on how we can learn from the lessons of the past and forge a new pathway of improvement for the future with the objective of providing a safer built environment overall. I would like to thank sector representatives and my Working Group 2 colleagues for getting the pilot process to the point this report can be published. Working Group 2 looks forward to further engagement and collaboration with the wider installer sector to continue progress on this crucial workstream.”

Building Safety Act published

Building Safety Act published

After receiving Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 the Building Safety Bill is now available for scrutiny.

FIS will continue to look at how the Bill will impact our community and will keep members up-to-date with developments. We have prepared an initial summary of the key implications that you can access here.

 FIS is committed to supporting our members with compliance and ensuring the Bill supports a better safety and a more collaborative approach to procurement.

Read the Building Safety Act 2022 in full here

Changing legislation in Scotland

Changing legislation in Scotland

Developers in Scotland will be banned from using combustible cladding on high‐rise buildings from 1 June, following the introduction of new building standards legislation. Since 2005, new cladding systems on high‐rise blocks of flats have either had to use non‐combustible materials or pass a large‐scale fire test. However, the new legislation removes the option of the fire test, prohibiting such materials from being used on domestic and other high‐risk buildings above 11 metres. The highest risk metal composite cladding material will be banned from all new buildings whatever their height, with replacement cladding also required to meet the new standards.

FIS has reviewed the proposals and note that Cavity Trays that caused some disruption in England and Wales are in the list of exemptions and consistent with the work we did with Scottish Government on buildings greater than 18 m.

Scottish Procurement Policy Note (SPPN) 02/2022 will also be introduced from 1 June, which sets out how public sector bodies are to embed prompt payment performance in the supply chain through procurement processes. Suppliers will have to pay 95% of valid invoices on time, or provide an improvement plan, otherwise they will not be selected to bid.