FIRE SAFETY

Part B Building Regulations

David Cant

Health and Safety Consultant

www.veritas-consulting.co.uk

• Part B: Fire Safety

• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

• Fire Safety Guidance Documents

• Transitional Provisions

• Oil Fired Boilers

• Revised Building Control Charges

• Revised Building Control Forms

Coming into force on the 6th April 2007

New Regulation 16B: Fire Safety Information

Revisions to Part B: Fire Safety

Revised wording to B3

The Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2006

Changes to Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations and Approved Document B

Volume 1 - Dwellinghouses

Volume 2 – Buildings Other Than Dwellinghouses

Flats (including multi-storey flats & mixed-use buildings) can be found in Volume 2

Procedural Changes

Amended requirement B3(3) – part of internal fire spread (structure)

Procedural Changes

• Building Control are still responsible for checking compliance of building work

• Fire Safety Authority are responsible for enforcing the fire safety order once the building is occupied, previously the Fire Precautions Act and the Workplace Regulations

• Will be amended again to incorporate Part B changes

Procedural Changes

" Fire safety information 16B. —(1) This regulation applies where building work—

(a) consists of or includes the erection or extension of a relevant building; or

(b) is carried out in connection with a relevant change of use of a building,

and Part B of Schedule 1 imposes a requirement in relation to the work.

(2) The person carrying out the work shall give fire safety information to the responsible person not later than the date of completion of the work, or the date of occupation of the building or extension, whichever is the earlier.

(3) In this regulation— 

(a) "fire safety information" means information relating to the design and construction of the building or extension, and the services, fittings and equipment provided in or in connection with the building or extension which will assist the responsible person to operate and maintain the building or extension with reasonable safety;

(b) a "relevant building" is a building to which the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies[4], or will apply after the completion of building work;

(c) a "relevant change of use" is a material change of use where, after the change of use takes place, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 will apply, or continue to apply, to the building; and

(d) "responsible person" has the meaning given by article 3 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005."

Procedural Changes

Meaning of "responsible person"

3. In this Order "responsible person" means—

(a) in relation to a workplace, the employer, if the workplace is to any extent under his control;

(b) in relation to any premises not falling within paragraph (a)—

 

(i) the person who has control of the premises (as occupier or otherwise) in connection with the carrying on by him of a trade, business or other undertaking (for profit or not); or

(ii) the owner, where the person in control of the premises does not have control in connection with the carrying on by that person of a trade, business or other undertaking.

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

 2005 No. 1541

 REGULATORY REFORM, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Application to premises     6. — (1) This Order does not apply in relation to —

(a) domestic premises, except to the extent mentioned in article 31(10);

(b) an offshore installation within the meaning of regulation 3 of the Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations 1995[13];

(c) a ship, in respect of the normal ship-board activities of a ship's crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master;

(d) fields, woods or other land forming part of an agricultural or forestry undertaking but which is not inside a building and is situated away from the undertaking's main buildings;

(e) an aircraft, locomotive or rolling stock, trailer or semi-trailer used as a means of transport or a vehicle for which a licence is in force under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994[14] or a vehicle exempted from duty under that Act;

(f) a mine within the meaning of section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954[15], other than any building on the surface at a mine;

(g) a borehole site to which the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995[16] apply.

(2) Subject to the preceding paragraph of this article, this Order applies in relation to any premises

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

PART 2FIRE SAFETY DUTIES

Duty to take general fire precautions   8. —(1) The responsible person must—(a) take such general fire precautions as will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of any of his employees; and

(b) in relation to relevant persons who are not his employees, take such general fire precautions as may reasonably be required in the circumstances of the case to ensure that the premises are safe.

Risk assessment     9. —(1) The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under this Order.

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Duty to consult enforcing authority before passing plans     45. —(1) Where it is proposed to erect a building, or to make any extension of or structural alteration to a building and, in connection with the proposals, plans are, in accordance with building regulations, deposited with a local authority, the local authority must, subject to paragraph (3), consult the enforcing authority before passing those plans.

    (2) Where it is proposed to change the use to which a building or part of a building is put and, in connection with that proposal, plans are, in accordance with building regulations, deposited with a local authority, the authority must, subject to paragraph (3), consult with the enforcing authority before passing the plans.

    (3) The duty to consult imposed by paragraphs (1) and (2)—

(a) only applies in relation to buildings or parts of buildings to which this Order applies, or would apply following the erection, extension, structural alteration or change of use;

(b) does not apply where the local authority is also the enforcing authority.

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Duty to Consult

Procedural Changes

Volume One

Dwellinghouses

New Diagram 1 illustrates basic principles

Direct reference to BS 5839-6: 2004Grade D = mains powered with standby supplyLD3 = Detectors in circulation spaces

ExtensionsProvide smoke alarms where habitable rooms are provided above ground level or if at ground level where there is no final exit from the new room

Smoke & Heat Alarms

New guidance on the use of domestic sprinklers as a compensatory feature.

Specific alternative approaches in paragraphs:

B1 – 2.7 houses with more than one floor over 4.5m above ground level

B1 – 2.20b Loft conversions

B4 – 9.15 Space separation

Domestic Sprinklers

Not required in houses with a floor more than 4.5m above ground level.

Locks (with or without removable keys) and stays may be fitted to egress windows, subject to the stay being fitted with a release catch, which may be child reistant

Egress Windows

Escape provision to be no worse than the window it replaces: except-

If original window is larger than necessary, opening can be reduced to minimum dimensions specified.

Replacement Windows

Fire Doors

Self Closing Devices

Self-closing devices not required on fire doors within dwellings.

Except

Doors to integral garages

Flat entrance doors (vol. 2)

Fire Doors ARE still necessary

Alternative approach DELETED

Provide protected stairs & smoke alarms

Some existing doors could be upgraded

Alternative approach for open plan ground floor –

Cut off door, escape window and sprinkler protection

Loft Conversions

Galleries

Alternative exit/escape window

OR

Overlook 50% of the room below

• 7.5m max travel to head of stair

• 3m max travel from foot of stair

• cooking facilities remote or enclosed

Also applies to flats

Galleries

Integral Garages

• Compartment wall & floor

• Sloping floor OR 100mm step

See also

• Item 8 Table A1 – REI 30

• Item 2 Table 3 – soil pipes

• Item 1b Table B1 – E30 Sa Door

Diagram 11 Junction of Compartment Wall with Roof

“New” European roof test

Constructions are classified within the BS EN 13501-5:2005 as

BROOF(t4), CROOF(t4),

DROOF(t4), EROOF(t4) or

FROOF(t4)

BROOF(t4) being the highest

performance and FROOF(t4)

being the lowest

(t4) indicates test 4 from the

soon to be BS EN 1187

Roof Coverings (Vol 1& 2)

Volume Two

Buildings Other Than Dwellinghouses

New guidance on the use of domestic sprinklers as a compensatory feature.

Specific alternative approaches in paragraphs:

B1 – 2.7 houses with more than one floor over 4.5m above ground level

B4 – 9.15 Space separation

Flats

Domestic Sprinkler Protection for Flats

Sprinklers to be provided within individual flats in blocks over 30m in height. Limitation of BS 9251 clarified height restriction to under 20m in height can be ignored.

Smoke Control of Common Escape Route in Flats

There should be some means of ventilating common corridors/ lobbies to control smoke and so protect common stairs

This offers individual protection to that provided by the fire doors to the stair

• single stair buildings – AOV

• Multi stair buildings – OV•Guidance on the design of smoke control systems using pressure differentials is available in BS EN 12101-6:2005.

Flats

Guidance from BS 5588 incorporated into main text

Moving back from having to purchase additional documents!

Small Premises

Open Spatial Planning

Self Storage Buildings

Care Homes

Inclusive Design

Refuges

Compartmentation

Phased Evacuation

Compartment Walls/ Floors Junction

Guidance reworked for clarity

Barriers in under floor voids

Aluminium and uPVC windows not suitable for closing cavities

Cavity Barriers

Notional Boundaries

Car Parks

External Walls

Vehicle access for pump appliance within 45m of “all points”to blocks of flats

Or: provide fire mains (not in f/f shaft)

Fire mains

New standard BS 9990

Wet mains required for buildings over 50m

Dry mains

Access for pump within 18m

Fire Service Access

Fire Fighting Shafts/ Fire Mains

Private Fire Hydrants

Door Measurement

Smoke Ventilators

Transitional Provisions

Fire Safety Risk Assessment Documents

www.communities.gov.uk

Changes to Oil Fired Boiler Requirements From the 1st April 2007 the energy performance standard of new and replacement Oil fired central heating boilers. From that date, in normal circumstances when you plan to install a new boiler or replace an existing one, you will need a condensing boiler to meet the higher standards for energy efficiency. This follows on from Gas fired central heating boilers, which have had to comply since 1st April 2005.

 

For boilers installed on or after the 1st April 2007:

The boiler should be a condensing type; and

The boiler efficiency should not be less than 86% (as expressed by its SEDBUK value)

Further information is available in the 2nd tier document ‘Domestic Heating Compliance Guide’ which can be viewed at www.planningportal.gov.uk

Any Questions

Thank You for Attending