Earlier today (17 May) we gave our initial response to the publication of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety.
The RIBA Expert Group on Fire Safety set out four key recommendations for baseline prescriptive requirements:
- Non-combustible cladding - external wall construction for existing or new buildings with a storey 18m or more above ground to be comprised of non-combustible (European class A1) materials only.
- More than one means of escape - In all new multiple occupancy residential buildings, a requirement for at least two staircases, offering alternative means of escape, where the top floor is more than 11m above ground level or the top floor is more than three storeys above the ground level storey (as required for commercial buildings).
- Sprinklers - retro-fitting of sprinklers / automatic fire suppression systems and centrally addressable fire alarm systems to existing residential buildings above 18m from ground level as “consequential improvements” where a building is subject to 'material alterations.'
- Mandatory requirement for sprinklers/automatic fire suppression systems and addressable central fire alarms in all new and converted residential buildings, as already required in Wales.
In case you have missed today's news headlines, our recommendations have been widely reported by the UK National media.
BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and The Guardian focused on our recommendation to ban the use of combustible materials. Our experts have also given a number of broadcast interviews throughout the day responding to the Hackitt Review on Building Regulations. Adrian Dobson appeared on ITV’s Lunchtime News and Jane Duncan on the BBC Live News Channel earlier this morning.
Architects Journal, ITV News, Huffington Post, iNews and The Mirror also reported on our recommendations.
The RIBA will be hosting a fire safety conference, Protecting Lives: Design and Construction Post Grenfell, on 12 June, 9:30am to 5pm.
