The Government has made an announcement regarding the transition to the UK marking ahead of the ending of recognition of CE marking on the 31 December 2022. You can find that announcement here.

The change will allow manufacturers with existing type tests from EU notified bodies under AVCP System 3, where the product was tested by the 31 December 2022, to affix the UK mark to their products, and to continue to supply them to the GB market without needing to be retested.  You can find the latest government guidance here.

This is a welcomed move as it helps to keep products flowing while industry wrestles with many other significant challenges.

It is important to recognise, however, that there are still a number of significant questions that need to be worked through, such as the persistent shortfall in capacity of the UK certification and testing sector; ensuring that investment and innovation continue to be attracted in to the UK; and a range of more detailed and critical technical matters.  Through the Construction Products Association, we will be pressing for further clarity on a number of pressing issues in particular:

• What is the position of products in the future placed on the market after the deadline, if UK testing and certification does not exist they will still be blocked from the market?
• How will the UK testing and certification capacity be encouraged to fill the gaps or will specialist product areas be allowed to use facilities outside the UK?  This is also needed to ensure products being brought on to the UK market from outside the UK can be certified and tested without delay.
• In addition, there are still a significant number of standards to pass through the system, some critical to industry.
• Finally, the position in regard to EOTA data and formal confirmation of its use in the UK needs to be confirmed.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us on 0121 707 0077 or email info@thefis.org  

Visit the FIS Brexit Toolkit here

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published a consultation on the Higher-Risk Building (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations.

This consultation is the first in a series of consultations on regulations which sit under the Building Safety Act 2022. It covers regulations which will complete the definition of higher-risk building for the purpose of the new more stringent regime.

The Building Safety Act 2022 sets the height threshold for buildings included in the new regime as at least 18 metres in height or at least 7 storeys.  .The Act means that buildings meeting this height threshold with at least two residential units will be within the scope of the new regime when they are occupied.   Government have previously consulted on the height-threshold and this is now set in primary legislation, they are not seeking further comments on this through this consultation.

This consultation is seeking views on:

1. The overall definition of a building for the purposes of

a:        the design and construction and
b:        occupation parts

of the new more stringent building safety regime being brought forward by the Building Safety Act;

2. Which buildings are included and excluded in relation to the design and construction part of the new regime and the definitions of these buildings;
3. Which buildings are excluded in relation to the occupation part of the new regime and the definitions of these buildings; and
4. The method for measuring height and number of storeys.

A key point to highlight for members is that the Act covers any construction work in a building at least 18m or at least 7 stories that includes two residential units. 

Currently FIS does not see any major concerns in the proposals, which are consistent with the information published with the Building Safety Act and in keeping with the original proposals set down in Building A Safer Future.  FIS is, however, seeking views of our membership should you wish us to raise any points through the consultation.  You can play these in directly too via the consultation website.

If you have any questions, or want discuss any aspect of the consultation, please contact Iain McIlwee iainmcilwee@thefis.org

Key points from the consultation:

Part one: definition of a building

The proposal is that the regulations will define what is meant by ‘building’ under both the design and construction and in-occupation parts of the new regime.

The consultation proposes that the regulations define ‘building’ as including any structure or erection, and any part of a building, as so defined, but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a building as defined in the Building Act 1984.

This echoes the language found in The Building Act 1984 and is an established definition recognised in the sector and currently used for building work.

Part two: including and excluding buildings from the design and construction part of the new regime

The consultation also sets down which buildings are considered higher-risk during the design and construction phase of the building life-cycle and are therefore subject to the new building control regime, mandatory occurrence reporting, dutyholder and golden thread requirements of the new regime.

The proposal is to define higher-risk buildings under section 120D of the Building Act 1984 as including:

1. buildings which contains at least two residential units (the Building Safety Act defines residential unit as a dwelling or any other unit of living accommodation, for example a flat or rooms in a university hall of residence where amenities are shared);
2. care homes; and
3. hospitals.

The proposal is to exclude from the definition of higher-risk buildings under section 120D of the Building Act 1984:

1. secure residential institutions (e.g. prisons).
2. temporary leisure establishments (e.g. hotels); and
3. military premises (e.g. military barracks).

Part three: excluding buildings from the in-occupation part of the new regime

The Building Safety Act 2022 already defines higher-risk buildings under section 65 as including any building which contains at least two residential units and meets the height threshold of 18 meters or 7 storeys.

The consultation proposes that that the regulations exclude some buildings from the definition of higher-risk buildings under section 65 of the Building Safety Act. The regulations will therefore establish in law which buildings are excluded from the in-occupation phase of the new regime. Without explicitly excluding types of buildings which are likely to have two residential units from the definition of higher-risk building through these regulations, where these buildings meet the height threshold they would otherwise be considered in scope. 

The current focus of the in-occupation regime, set out in part four of the Act, is on domestic buildings. The proposal is therefore to exclude, through these regulations, other types of buildings that are wholly subject to The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order) when they are in use.

The buildings it is proposed to exclude are: 

1. care homes; 
2. hospitals;
3. secure residential institutions (e.g. prisons); 
4. temporary leisure establishments (e.g. hotels); and
5. military premises (e.g. military barracks). 

Further definitions of these building types are included in the consultation.

The consultation can be seen in full here. The consultation will be open until 21 July 2022.

For more details of the Building Safety Act click here

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.