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Combustible cladding to be prohibited under new government regulations10th December 2018

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An amendment to the Building Regulations will come into effect on the 21st December 2018, prohibiting the use of combustible materials in buildings over 18m high.

The new restrictions have come into place to protect the safety of inhabitants living in high rise residential buildings, and applies to cladding used anywhere in the external walls of a building containing one or more dwellings.

New builds will be affected, as well as refurbished buildings and any structure that undergoes a ‘change of use’ – at which point the external walls must be checked and brought into compliance with the new regulations.

This ‘change of use’ clause means that – for example – should an office building be built using materials not fit for an apartment complex, it cannot then be converted into a residential property without replacing non-suitable materials.

To this end, architects and builders are being encouraged to carefully consider the materials they use when developing high rise buildings as this may affect future plans for re-use.

With regards to the materials that fall under non-compliance, the new regulations are as follows:

 

Regulation 7 of the Building Regulations

Building work shall be carried out so that materials which become part of an external wall, or specified attachment, of a relevant building are of European Classification A2-s1, d0 or A1.”

Class A1 - Will not contribute in any stage of a fire, including the fully developed fire

Class A2 - Will not significantly contribute to a fire load and fire growth in a fully developed fire

 

Any buildings over 18m that house residents, including student accommodation and hospitals, will now need to be constructed or refurbished using only materials that are compliant with Regulation 7.

After the 21st December, there will be a two month transition period for those working in the construction sector to comply with these new regulations, and we encourage anyone working in building services to read through The Building (Amendment) Regulations, SI 201w8/1230 in full before this time.