Building standards - managing fire risks associated with use of external wall systems: research

2. Aims, Objectives, and Scope

Scottish Government Aim and Objectives

12. The aim of this project was to develop guidance for consideration by BSD/ that may be included or cross-referred to in the Compliance Handbook that will be developed to support the Compliance Plan.

13. The research focuses on compliance issues, both physical and procedural. The developed guidance will assist local authority verifiers to manage the fire risk associated with external wall systems through the design and construction phases of a project and as a result improve compliance with building regulations.

14. The objectives of the project were to:

• Undertake a transparent, rigorous, and systematic analysis of a sample of domestic high rise (above 18m) building warrant applications dated from 1 May 2005 and a sample of building warrant applications above 11m (domestic or non-domestic) dated from 1 October 2019 in a mix of local authorities. The brief was to sample four applications of each of the above (total of eight) from six local authorities; six local authorities were initially approached as per the brief, three local authorities responded to this requested. As a result, the actual number of case studies was subsequently reduced to five, from three cities. The authors are indebted to the cooperation from the three cities that participated. The review involved records for each project, including all available pre and post building warrant documentation made available by the local authorities.
• Provide quantitative as well as qualitative analysis and identify any recurring themes in the verification process, and suggest possible solutions to provide appropriate, effective, and robust verification and compliance processes to ensuring safe external wall system design and construction. Local authority verifiers advised during the interview process that a record is not kept on time spent on each aspect of the Building Standards guidance in the Technical Handbook (including external wall systems), therefore a quantitative analysis was not possible.
• Draft guidance should be targeted at assisting relevant persons (see Section 1) which may be included in or cross-referenced by the Compliance Handbook (Note: this guidance should also be helpful to local authority verifiers, designers, installers, fire risk assessors, fire engineers, and external wall system appraisal experts).

Scope of Research

15. The scope of the research is limited to managing the fire risk associated with external wall systems and does not extend to other aspects of the building regulations.

16. For the purposes of this research, an external wall system is a non-loadbearing façade system e.g. rainscreen cladding (and any insulation material behind the cladding or rendered external thermally insulated cladding systems (ETICS/)), balconies, solar shading or other attachment that could promote rapid vertical fire growth. Whilst residential buildings present the greatest risk to life and should be targeted, the author may use evidence from non-residential buildings.

17. BSD/ provided verifier contact details and helped to facilitate access to records whilst accepting that COVID/ restrictions may still be in place. This has meant the project timetable has been extended until August 2023. In order to inform the research and identify any areas for improvement, the project addresses and local authorities have been anonymized. Data Protection legislation and copyright will be adhered to at all times.