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Approved Inspector Building Regulations Fire Risk Assessment

The government have announced changes to Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings, Volume 2 – Buildings other than dwellings.

It details which new, large buildings, or those subject to a material change of use, commonly used by the public will be mandated to provide changing places.

The changes will take effect on 1 January 2021, with applications received prior to that date which commence within 2 months being exempt. Hopefully no one will look to exploit the exe...

The recent announcement by the Government to increase permitted development rights has kicked off another debate about the issue of red tape and taking a bonfire to the regulations.

We have been here before and an enormous amount of work was put in by professional’s in our industry to get a consensus on the way forward.

In 2009 the Labour Government published the Future of Building Control Implementation Plan (https://www.thebuildinginspector.org/future%20of%20building%20co...

As businesses now look to return to work you may be thinking of making alterations to your workspace.

When carrying out any proposed alterations it is important to remember that you may require permission to make those alterations from the freeholder. Additionally in most cases Building Regulations require that you apply for consent in advance for any alterations.

The Building Regulations define a material alteration as work which will temporarily or permanently ...

For #childsafetyweek here’s a reminder that Approved Document K (England) provides recommendations for the minimum height of windows (800mm) above floor level and guarding for windows where they fall below these levels.

Architectural trends are for deeper windows or french windows with low level cills into their designs. The cills to these windows can provide platforms to aid climbability by children.

As such, the recommendations for guarding height...

The Government have today (26th May 2020) published new guidance that will require Sprinklers and Way finding signage in blocks of flats over 11m in height.

Critically this will also apply to airspace development where stories are added to an existing block.

The new rules require that blocks of flats with a top storey more than 11m above ground level  should be fitted with a sprinkler system throughout the building. Sprinklers should be provided within the indi...

Return to work

The construction industry is rapidly returning to work following the Prime Ministers announcement last night (10th May 2020).

This raises a number of issues regarding the health and safety of workers on the construction sites which are quite rightly being discussed on social media today.

However, one aspect that doesn't seem to have been considered is the problem of "material substitution", where one product is changed for a...

As promised here is our draft response for you to use and amend as you wish.

Building safer future

PDF

https://www.thebuildinginspector.org/Response%20to%20the%20Government.pdf

Word

https://www.thebuildinginspector.org/Response%20to%20the%20Government-2.docx

Time is of the essence as the consultation officially closes on 31st July but I’m sure they will accept responses at least until Friday and may even announce an extension of ...

This guide tries to explain the key points from the Governments huge 198 page consultation on fire safety in high rise buildings (see https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/806892/BSP_consultation.pdf)

The government are particularly keen to hear what people who live in high rise buildings think about the proposals, and you dont have to use the official response document, as they have promised that "All responses will be rea...

The Regs: Take safety into account when designing partitions

Geoff Wilkinson looks at the fire safety rules relating to alterations to offices

One of the questions we regularly get asked is whether or not Building Regulations apply to minor works to fit out offices, shops, and so on. In most cases the answer is ‘yes’ and there are quite a few regulations that you can fall foul of if you are not careful.

It will come as a surprise to many architects that even a s...

Response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s Final Report

Following the publication of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Final Report, ‘Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety’, the Government asked to hear views as to how these recommendations should be taken forwards.We believe that the report does not go far enough and that we need "Hackitt Plus"

We have today responded to the report and provide a summary of that response b...