Fire safety is an obvious concern, but is the Approved Document B working? Celestine Cheong, Chair of the Built Environment Issues & Affairs Workstream at the Fire Sector Federation explains why it urgently needs reviewing
Speak to the ‘average Joe’ about fire safety and likely his or her eyes might glaze over. And yet, despite the number of fire deaths having fallen 30 percent over the last decade, the financial losses from fire are increasing at a worrying state year on year. However, it’s not just financial loss we need to worry about. Fire in the UK is much wider than the fire service. It is about life safety, business resilience and continuity, our health, our children’s education and the environment, and this concerns both commercial and residential properties – the very places where we live and work.
But if fire deaths are at an all-time low, aren’t the Building Regulations and the guidance in Approved Document B (ADB) working? In short, they were and, to an extent, still are. The issue is that it’s 2016. We are moving forward at great speed. The regulations and associated guidance have not kept up, and this is dangerous.
The last revision of the guidance in ADB was in 2006. Just think about how different our mobile phones were ten years ago. Construction methods and materials in the built environment were different back then too. We have transformed a great deal over the last decade, and our obsession with DIY has seen more conversions and extensions. The norm is to live in cities where residency is churned several times a year, and the introduction of new insulation materials and techniques now pose a whole new range of fire safety threats not thought of even five years ago, let alone ten. Things will intensify.
To put things into perspective, the measures in the guidance in ADB assume a certain level of fire safety management. The rise of the millennial generation using booking systems such as AirBnB that offer more rooms than the world’s largest hotel chain (InterContinental Hotels Group and the like), without actually owning a single hotel, is an area of concern. Many of these types of premises, including registered smaller hotels, are unstaffed at night. This is an increasing trend, but building fire safety requirements are not adapting to take account of it.
In 2014, the Fire Sector Federation’s Built Environment Issues and Affairs (BEIA) workstream was formed for two main reasons. The first is from the Lakanal House fire inquest suggesting a review of Approved Document B, and the second, the release of three independent studies by Bureau Veritas, BRE and the Centre for Economics and Business Research highlighting policy flaws in the Guidance.
The workstream has since conducted its own studies. It has gathered expert opinion from the FSF’s membership in conjunction with the Construction Industry Council (CIC) on the Building Regulations and ADB. The goals of the two surveys were to garner impressions of understanding, clarity and ease of use of the current guidance. We want to establish if the focus of the current system should extend beyond the capacity of “life safety” and garner an impression of the importance of the FRS (Fire and Rescue Services) in the decision-making process, and to determine, by today’s standards, which areas require further investigation and discussion.
The studies found that 92% of FSF members believe changes need to be made to ADB, and this is supported by 91% citing there should be new or additional guidance provided using easy to read text. When assessed for user-friendliness, 79% of FSF members and 66% CIC members cited various degrees of difficulty. 75% of FSF members also agreed the FRS should have the final decision with respect to B5 compliance (access and facilities for the fire service). 100% of FSF members agreed the need to address the inconsistencies in building definitions.
Other responses include 88% of FSF members citing ADB does not adapt to suit the trends used in today’s construction methods. By contrast, 42% of CIC members cited ADB is flexible with 21.4 percent of CIC members who do not know, indicating a need for further education. More can be read here: http://www.firesectorfederation.co.uk/news/post.php?s=2015-11-04-building-guidance-confounds-fire-sector-experts
Two of the BEIA workstream aims are to promote dialogue between policymakers and stakeholders relevant to building policy and fire and assist with the development of recommended and revised policy material. The work-stream is doing both. Where the surveys’ results demonstrate a consensus, the guidance in ADB is extremely difficult to understand. The workstream has formed a voluntary task group that includes building control and civil servant representation, meeting on a regular basis to facilitate greater consistency of interpretation. As for the accessibility, navigational aspects and improvements to policy, it is working with a think-tank on approaches.
In February 2016, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched an online consultation via NBS, part of RIBA Enterprises, on improving the usability of Approved Documents B and M. The results have been tallied, and a report exists, but they have yet to be released. The study sought views on issues such as:
- The use of tables and diagrams;
- The range of suggested design solutions;
- The consistency of terms used; and
- Whether it achieves the right balance between being prescriptive and non-prescriptive (the wording suggests DCLG could be minded to make ADB more prescriptive and rule-based in the future) and an appropriate online format.
One particular question also asked respondents what percentage of the regulations should be guidance and what percentage is regulatory, indicating a possible compliance check.
The response from new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, James Wharton, who has responsibilities for the Northern Powerhouse, city deals, Enterprise Zones and Local Enterprise Partnerships and Building Regulations amongst a list of others, is that he is not in a position to set out plans for Building Regulations. He has acknowledged a political policy of not increasing the burden of regulation – simplification is necessary and should one measure be introduced, it would need to be offset by the removal of two others, depending on validity, however.
Perhaps the FSF should challenge those in government to consider a swap of using their smartphones for 10-year old ones during the next 12 months. The end result could serve to highlight what the FSF is seeking – to keep up with the times.
If you would like to be part of the BEIA workstream’s voluntary task group that considers the readability of the Guidance in Approved Document B, please contact the FSF via admin@firesectorfederation.co.uk
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Celestine Cheong
Chair, Built Environment Issues & Affairs Workstream
Fire Sector Federation
Tel: +44 (0)1608 812543
admin@firesectorfederation.co.uk
www.firesectorfederation.co.uk