A consultation on banning the use of combustible materials on the
external walls of high-rise residential buildings which are 18
metres or over has been published today (18 June 2018).
This was announced in Parliament by the Housing Secretary, Rt Hon
MP.
The cladding believed to have been used on Grenfell Tower was
unlawful under existing building regulations and should not have
been used. The government wants to ensure that there is no doubt
about which materials can be used on high-rise residential
buildings.
This consultation is
inviting views on our proposals to revise the building
regulations to ban the use of combustible materials in the inner
leaf, insulation and cladding that are used in external wall
systems on these buildings.
Residents, industry and other interested parties will now be able
to have their say on proposals affecting the safety of homes. The
government is legally required to consult on substantive changes
to the buildings regulations before any change in the law and
this consultation will end on 14 August 2018.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Rt Hon MP, said:
“The Grenfell Tower fire was an appalling tragedy and we must do
everything we can to ensure a disaster like this never happens
again.
“I have listened carefully to concerns and I intend to ban the
use of combustible materials on the external walls of high-rise
residential buildings, subject to consultation.
“The cladding believed to have been used on Grenfell Tower was
unlawful under existing building regulations. It should not have
been used. But I believe that the changes on which we are
consulting will offer even greater certainty to concerned
residents and to the construction industry.”
Following her comprehensive review of fire safety and building
regulations, Dame Judith Hackitt recommended that a simpler but
more robust approach to the construction and on-going management
of high-rise residential buildings was needed.
The government welcomed Dame
Judith’s report and went even further than her
recommendations, committing to:
- banning or restricting the use of desktop studies from being
used to assess the fire performance of cladding systems, unless
our separate
consultationdemonstrates that they can be safely used; the
consultation has closed and we are reviewing responses
- change the law to achieve meaningful and lasting reform of
the regulatory system, with strong sanctions for those who fail
to comply
- invite views on how the government could implement major
reform of the regulatory system in line with Dame Judith’s review
- clarify building regulations fire safety guidance (Approved
Document B)
Further information
- · See details
of the press release.
- · See details
of the consultation.
-
· The Independent Expert
Advisory Panel has issued advice to building owners on
how to ensure that their buildings comply with the existing
building regulations. This advice still stands. The clearest
ways of ensuring that an external wall system adequately
resists external fire spread are either for all of the relevant
elements of the wall to be in the top 2 European classes for
fire performance (Class A1 or Class A2); or to use an external
wall system which can be shown to have passed a large-scale
test conducted to the BS8414 standard. In all instances,
building owners are advised to seek professional advice by a
competent and qualified person on what further steps to take
with respect to their external wall system, based on the
specific circumstances of their building including the external
wall system design and condition, to satisfy themselves that
their building is safe.
- · The
government is consulting on proposals to ban combustible
materials for residential buildings 18 metres or over, and
whether only materials in those top 2 European classes for fire
performance – reflective of the approach taken in Scotland –
should be allowed over the entire external wall system – from the
internal face of the wall through to its external face – with
limited exemptions covering parts of the wall (such as paint)
that do not present a significant contribution to the risk of
fire spread.
- · There is a
statutory requirement to consult under the Building Act 1984.
This consultation complies with the duty on the Secretary of
State to consult the Building Regulations Advisory Committee and
other representative interests on proposed changes to the
substantive requirements in the building regulations.
- · The deadline
for consultation responses is 14 August 2018. Once closed, the
department will consider all the comments received and provide a
response as soon as possible.
- · In
her final
report Dame Judith Hackitt stated that using products
which are non combustible or of limited combustibility is
undoubtedly the lower risk option than undergoing a full system
test.
