Dispensation of Building Regulations (Automatic Fire Suppression Systems) (Scotland) Direction 2024: letter to local authorities
- Published
- 27 November 2024
- Directorate
- Local Government and Housing Directorate
Letter from Stephen Garvin, Head of Building Standards Division, to local authority Chief Executives, regarding the dispensation of Building Regulations (Automatic Fire Suppression Systems) (Scotland) Direction 2024, applicable from 25 November 2024.
Dear Chief Executive
Dispensation of Building Regulations (Automatic Fire Suppression Systems) (Scotland) Direction 2024
We initially wrote to you on 24 October, in accordance with section 27 of the Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2004, to seek your views on a draft of the above Direction. Your comments were taken into account before this Direction was finalised and issued. A separate letter will be sent to building standards managers covering the response to each of the comments received on the previous draft Direction.
This Direction is now issued and attached to this letter. It identifies specific circumstances where the provision of an automatic fire suppression system (AFSS) under standard 2.15 is dispensed with when extending a dwelling or undertaking a conversion to create, or increase the area of, a dwelling. It also identifies the conditions which must be met for the Direction to apply in those circumstances.
Verifiers should take the provisions of this Direction into account where determining current or future building warrant applications and future applications to amend an issued building warrant.
Any queries on the application of this Direction may be sent to buildingstandards@gov.scot.
Yours sincerely
Dr Stephen Garvin
Head of Building Standards
Dispensation of Building Regulations (Automatic Fire Suppression Systems) (Scotland) Direction 2024
The Scottish Ministers give the following Direction in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 3 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 and all other powers enabling them to do so.
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1. —(1) This Direction may be cited as the Dispensation of Building Regulations (Automatic Fire Suppression Systems) (Scotland) Direction 2024 and comes into force on 25 November 2024.
(2) In this Direction-
“flat” means a dwelling on one storey, forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally, and includes a dwelling of which the main entrance door and associated hall are on a different storey from the remainder of the dwelling.
“maisonette” means a dwelling on more than one storey, forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally.
“social housing dwelling” means a dwelling occupied by virtue of a Scottish secure tenancy within the meaning of section 11 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001.
“ground storey” means the storey of a building in which there is situated an entrance to the building from the level of the adjoining ground or, if there is more than one such storey, the lower or lowest of these.
“protected enclosure” in a dwelling means a circulation area constructed to resist fire in adjoining accommodation. It includes a hall, landing or private stair or ramp but not a room.
“protected lobby” means a lobby within a protected zone but separated from the remainder of the protected zone so as to resist the movement of smoke from the adjoining accommodation to the remainder of the protected zone.
“protected zone” means that part of an escape route which is within a building, but not within a room, and to which access is only by way of a protected door and from which there is an exit directly to a place of safety.
“storey” means that part of a building which is situated between the top of any floor being the lowest floor level within the storey and the top of the floor next above it being the highest floor level within the storey or, if there is no floor above it, between the top of the floor and the ceiling above it or, if there is no ceiling above it, the internal surface of the roof; and for this purpose a gallery or catwalk, or an open walk floor or storage racking, shall be considered to be part of the storey in which it is situated.
(3) For the purpose of this Direction, measurements shall be made or calculated in accordance with schedule 4 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Dispensation of standard 2.15 – automatic fire suppression systems
2. —(1) Ministers direct that—
(a) subject to paragraph (2), paragraph 2.15 of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 is dispensed with and does not apply to works for the construction of a ground storey extension to—
(i) a social housing dwelling,
(ii) a flat or maisonette,
(b) subject to paragraph (3) and the conditions specified in paragraph (4), paragraph 2.15 of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 is dispensed with and does not apply to the conversion of a building—
(i) to create a dwelling or dwellings or a part thereof,
(ii) ancillary to a dwelling to increase the area of human occupation,
(iii) which alters the number of dwellings in the building,
(2) Paragraph (1)(a) does not apply to an extension to a dwelling which contains an automatic fire suppression system,
(3) Paragraph (1)(b) does not apply to the conversion of a building if—
(a) the building contains an automatic fire suppression system, or
(b) the building has a storey at a height of 18 metres or moreabove the ground, or
(c) the conversion creates more than one additional dwelling.
(4) The conditions are—
(a) where a storey which is the subject of the conversion is at a height of more than 4.5 m—
(i) a category LD1 fire detection and alarm system must be installed in accordance with BS 5839-6: 2019+A1:2020’ and
(ii) a protected enclosure with a short fire resistance duration must be provided,
(b) where a dwelling which is the subject of the conversion makes use of a common escape route either—
(i) a protected enclosure with a short fire resistance duration is provided within the dwelling, or
(ii) a ventilated protected lobby must be provided between the escape stair and dwelling, or
(iii) a self-closing fire door with a medium fire resistance duration is provided to the dwelling entrance door that enters the common escape route.
Explanatory note
This Direction identifies specific circumstances where the provision of an automatic fire suppression system (AFSS) under standard 2.15 is not required when extending a dwelling or when undertaking a conversion to create not more than one additional dwelling or increase the area of a dwelling.
This Direction is issued under section 3(2)(b) of the Building Scotland Act 2003 (‘The Act’). In accordance with section 3(9) of The Act, once issued it applies to applications for building warrant where a building warrant is not yet granted and to new applications for a building warrant or to amend a granted building warrant.
This Direction should be read in conjunction with relevant building standards in schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and the supporting guidance contained in Section 2: Fire of the Domestic Technical Handbook.
Scope of the Direction
For extensions, the Direction is limited to domestic ground floor extensions, where the existing dwelling does not have an automatic fire suppression system (AFSS).
For conversions, the Direction describes conversion types 1-3 from schedule 2. Guidance to regulation 4 notes the following examples of these types for dwellings:
- a hotel (or other ND building) to a dwelling (type 1)
- use of an attic space as a room within a dwelling (type 1)
- use of a garage attached to a dwelling as a room (type 2)
- sub-division of a house into two flats (type 3)
The scope of the Direction is limited to those works which create not more than one additional dwelling or which increase the habitable area of a dwelling (e.g. convert an attic space or an ancillary building).
Exclusion of works from the scope of this Direction, due to the presence of AFSS or due to height of uppermost storey, refer to any part of a building within which conversion, in whole or in part, is proposed.
For conversions, the conditions in clause 2(4) must also be met for the Direction to apply.
The scope of this Direction is specific and describes low-risk scenarios. Where a verifier considers an application for building warrant may seek to circumvent the intended limits in scope of this Direction, following peer review by the verifier, the application may be referred to the Building Standards Division
Background
The principle function of an automatic fire suppression system (AFSS) is to provide enhanced protection to the occupants in the dwelling of fire origin (first principle). However, AFSS within dwellings may also be used to protect the common route of escape (second principle). In such cases, dispensation of paragraph 2.15 of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 assumes that additional protection is provided to protect the common escape stair from fire and smoke. This is normally achieved by the provision of protected enclosures and/or ventilated protected lobbies. Where the existing flat does not have a protected enclosure or ventilated protected lobby, a FD60S self-closing fire door is normally required to be fitted to replace existing flat entrance door.
The research report ‘Cost Benefit Analysis to Inform Decision Making Process for Limitations to Standard 2.15 Automatic Fire Suppression Systems – Alterations, Extensions and Conversions (May 2023) considers the circumstances which would support the dispensation of paragraph 2.15 of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Guidance in Section 2 : Fire of the Domestic Technical Handbook may not be appropriate for dwellings having an individual storey with an area more than 200 m2 (clause 2.0.3). In such cases, the alternative approach as described in clause 2.0.7 should be used.
Where a building contains both a domestic building and a non-domestic building, the wording in paragraph 2.15(f) of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, “a building containing a flat or maisonette” is not intended to apply the requirement for an automatic fire suppression system to the non-domestic building or part thereof.
For the avoidance of doubt, paragraph 2.15 of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 does not apply to building warrant applications to alter existing flats, maisonettes or social housing dwellings where no suppression system is currently installed.
Contact
Email: buildingstandards@gov.scot
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