• Takes effect on 26th November 2020 and apply to England only.
• Applications submitted before 26th November 2020 – work must be commenced on site before 29th January 2021, otherwise the design must be altered to incorporate the amendments.

Effect of Amendments

• Blocks of flats with a floor over 11m will require the provision of sprinklers throughout the building (change in guidance in relation to Building Regulation requirement B3 Internal Fire Spread – Structure).

• Blocks of flats with a floor over 11m will also require wayfinding signage to assist the fire brigade with consistent signage for floor identification and flat indication (change in guidance in relation to Building Regulation requirement B5 Access and facilitates for the Fire Service).

Application to projects

• The amendments will apply to buildings that contain flats with a floor over 11m that are newly erected, are formed by a material change of use, are extended or have material alterations carried out.

Please note; The use of alternative guidance such as BS 9991 may now not be deemed as meeting the functional requirements of B3 and B5.

There are further changes expected, probably later on in the year, relating to fire safety and Regulation 7 which we produced as part of our last newsletter proposing amendments.

We will provide a further update on these changes actual when published.

More information on Fire Safety – Approved Document B can be found on the Gov.uk website here.