Building Standards technical handbook 2017: domestic buildings

This standard covers several unrelated safety issues that do not lend themselves to inclusion in other standards although glass and glazing do figure prominently.

Collision or entrapment accidents result in a significant numbers of deaths and injuries to people in and around buildings every year. The majority of these accidents occur during normal use and involve building features such as doors, windows and areas of fixed glazing, with the risk of injury increased where vulnerable glass is involved. Collisions with glazing are very common as it can, if transparent, be difficult to see and may create confusing lighting effects, presenting particular difficulties for a person with a visual or cognitive impairment.

Falls still result in deaths and serious injury to people while cleaning windows. Whether windows are cleaned professionally or by the building owner, provision should be made to permit glazing to be cleaned safely.

Natural ventilation in dwellings is provided by openable windows or rooflights. People may encounter difficulty and a hazard may arise in operating controls which are poorly sited. Similarly, location of electrical sockets, switches and other controls can, if not considered carefully, affect safe and convenient use.

Conversions - in the case of conversions, as specified in regulation 4, the building as converted shall meet the requirements of this standard in so far as is reasonably practicable, and in no case be worse than before the conversion (regulation 12, schedule 6).

Fixtures that project into, or open onto any place to which people have access can be a hazard. Any element of a building capable of projecting into a circulation route or space should be positioned, secured or guarded so that it does not present a risk to building users.

The simple way to avoid risk is to ensure that obstructions do not encroach into such spaces. However where a building element does project into a circulation route or space, and any part of the obstruction is less than 2.0m above the ground, guarding should be provided to both highlight the hazard and prevent collision with the building element.

Guarding should be provided to:

Guarding should comprise of a continuous horizontal rail, at a height of between 900mm and 1.1m above ground level and a solid element, such as kerb upstand or rail, positioned approximately 100mm above ground level, to assist in detection by a visually impaired person using a cane.

There should be visual contrast between guarding rails and surrounding surfaces. Consideration should be given to positioning of guarding to direct a person away from the hazard, further reducing the risk of a collision.

Additional guarding may be needed to prevent collision with, or entrapment by, a powered door leaf (see clause 4.1.8).

Within a dwelling, guarding is not needed. A door swing may open into a circulation space provided no obstructions occur within the unobstructed area on a stair landing (see clause 4.3.6), on a ramp landing or that would prevent future installation of a stair lift (see clause 4.2.8).

Glazing in certain locations is more vulnerable to human impact. Care should be taken in the selection of glazing at low level in screens, walls and partitions or in areas surrounding doors, particularly where glazed side panels may be mistaken for doors.

To reduce the risk of injuries from accidental human impact in these locations, designers should either:

Glazing should be designed to resist human impact as set out in BS 6262: Part 4: 2005, where all, or part, of a pane is:

Glazing manifestations - large areas of transparent glazing, in fixed screens or partitions or where forming doors, can be difficult to identify and may be a particular hazard to a person with a visual impairment. Glazing in a building, positioned where accidental collision may be likely, should be made apparent by some form of manifestation (marking). Differences in the design of manifestation used can also assist in identifying the position of doors within a glazed screen.

Manifestation should be of a size and form that is immediately obvious. It should, as far as is reasonably practicable, contrast visually with backgrounds viewed through the glazing by a person approaching from either side. Forms might include broken or solid lines, patterns or logos and may be a continuous element or at appropriate horizontal intervals. Manifestation should be present within 2 height ranges, between 850mm and 1.0m, and between 1.4m and 1.6m above floor level. It should be permanent, e.g. screen printed or opaque etching or a durable applied material which is not easily removed.

In addition, any unframed glazed door which operates on a pivot action should have any exposed vertical edge highlighted to contrast visually with surroundings, to assist in identifying the door edge when opening or in an open position. This is particularly important on powered doors.

Manifestation or highlighting of door edges need only be provided within dwellings where glazing installations are unusual. Familiar elements such as patio doors should not usually attract marking.

Falls account for most window cleaning accidents, and generally occur from loss of balance through over-extension of reach or due to breakage of part of the building fabric through improper use or access. It is therefore important that all transparent or translucent glazing should be designed so that it may be cleaned safely.

There is, however no need to provide for the safe cleaning of any glazed element that is opaque and does not allow the passage of light.

Any window or rooflight, all or part of which is more than 4m above the adjacent ground or internal floor level, should be constructed so that any external and internal glazed surfaces can be cleaned safely from:

Rooflight in dwellings - however within a dwelling, any rooflight, all of which is more than 1.8m above both adjacent ground and internal floor level, need not be constructed so that it may be safely cleaned.

Glazing in common areas - in addition to the above three options, any window or rooflight within a common area of a domestic building may be cleaned from a ladder sited on adjacent ground or from an adjacent loadbearing surface which has unobstructed space large enough to allow the safe use of a ladder and which will contain a person from falling further. However a ladder should not be used to access any external or internal glazed surface more than 9m above the surface on which the ladder is sited. General guidance on the safe use of ladders may be found in HSE information sheet MISC613 'Safety in window cleaning using portable ladders'.

Glazing within a roof access hatch, located within a roof space, need not be constructed so that it may be safely cleaned.

When cleaning a window from inside, a person should not have to sit or stand on a window sill or use other aids to reach the external face of a window. The criterion of safety is the ability to reach all points on the surface of the external glazing with only the arm projecting outside the line of the window whilst remaining standing on the floor.

Safe reach - ergonomic statistics on reach capabilities for the UK adult population are given in Annex A of BS 8213: Part 1: 2004. As reach may safely be increased to some degree by use of cleaning implements, it would still be considered reasonable to apply a safe limit to downward reach of 610mm and a safe limit to lateral and vertical reach as an arc with a radius of 850mm measured from a point not more than 1.3m above floor level.

Where the window is to be cleaned from a loadbearing surface noted in subclause (b) to this clause, there should be:

This method of cleaning is only appropriate where no part of the glazing is more than 4m above the loadbearing surface.

Where there is a need for safe cleaning of glazing, it may be appropriate to consider alternate methods of cleaning, in addition to those listed in the guidance, where an equivalent level of safety can be demonstrated.

For openable windows on the ground and first floor of a building, or where the outside face of the glazing will not be cleaned from inside the building, no guarding need be provided for the purpose of cleaning glazing. However the general guidance for provision of protective barriers given in clause 4.4.2 should be followed.

At greater heights, 2 storeys or more above ground level, where it is intended to clean the outside face of the glazing from inside the building, the increased risk from a fall should be recognised and guarding provided to a height of at least 1.1m above floor level.

Where guarding is provided, it should be designed to conform to BS 6180: 2011. All guarding should be permanently fixed and should not be detachable to permit windows to open. Guarding should be designed so that it is not easily climbable by young children.

Guarding to a window is not needed where the open window gives access to a fully guarded balcony.

The location of a manual control device can have a significant effect on both the ease of operation of the device and safety in use. Positions that are inaccessible present a greater risk of accident when bending or reaching. Any control that is intended for operation by the occupants of a building should be installed in position that allows safe and convenient use.

This guidance is applicable to manual controls to openable ventilators, including windows and rooflights and to controls and outlets of electrical fixtures located on a wall or other vertical surface. Unless incorporating a restrictor or other protective device for safety reasons, controls should be operable with one hand.

An openable window, rooflight or other ventilator, that provides natural ventilation to meet Standard 3.14, should have controls for opening, positioned at least 350mm from any internal corner, projecting wall or similar obstruction and at a height of:

The above guidance does not apply to windows or rooflights openable only for cleaning or maintenance purposes or that are controlled by an automatic system, or to trickle ventilators.

Electrical fixtures - outlets and controls of electrical fixtures and systems should be positioned at least 350mm from any internal corner, projecting wall or similar obstruction and, unless the need for a higher location can be demonstrated, not more than 1.2m above floor level. This would include fixtures such as sockets, switches, fire alarm call points and timer controls or programmers. Within this height range:

Where sockets are concealed, such as to the rear of white goods in a kitchen, separate switching should be provided in an accessible position, to allow appliances to be isolated.