[SystemSafety] Electrical Safety, Fire Safety

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

The detailed working of the UK building regulations for fire safety in dwelling houses can be found in
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/485420/BR_PDF_AD_B1_2013.pdf
This is part of a set of documents which may be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-approved-document-b

The Requirement from Part B of Schedule 1 of the Building Requirements 2010 is on p39:

[begin quote]

External fire spread
B4.
(1) The external walls of the building shall adequately resist the spread of fire over the walls and
from one building to another, having regard to the height, use and position of the building.
(2) The roof of the building shall adequately resist the spread of fire over the roof and from one
building to another, having regard to the use and position of the building.

[end quote]

That's clear and unambiguous.

In the details given in this document, which amounts to guidance on acceptable means of compliance
with the Building Regulations, it looks to me as if external cladding must be made of
non-combustible material or material of limited combustibility, Class 0 (UK national classification)
or Class B-s3,d2 (European classification). Both of these refer to combustibility tests: BS
476-11:1982 for the national classification and BS EN 13501-1:2002 for the European classification.
I haven't read either. I take it these are the single-item lab tests.

This substantiates the suggestion in some reports that the contribution of external cladding to fire
safety is mainly concerned with the performance of units of the substance, and effects such as
propagation are not at the centre of concern in the regulations.

This suggests to me that, although there is no gap in the Building Regulations, there is a possible
gap in the approved means of compliance with the Building Regulations as expressed in this document.
(I say "possible" - I am not expert in this subject.)

Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond apparently just told Andrew Marr in Marr's interview
show that he thinks the cladding used was banned in the UK (as well as Europe and the US).

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
MoreInCommon
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de





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