Amendments to ADB – Proposals to Remove BS476 Tests from Regulations

The UK Government has recently issued proposals to substantially amend Approved Document B from a fire safety perspective. The proposed changes include:

• To recommend Sprinklers in new Care Homes, regardless of building height;
• Removal of the national classification system for construction products (BS 476 series) – including Class 0 – and a requirement for relevant construction products to be tested to the British Standard version of the European Standard.
• To introduce a threshold whereby residential buildings above 30 metres in height should be designed and built with 2 staircases;

The effect of this will be to remove all BS 476 tests from National Regulations, and this includes fire resistance. IFSA believes that the consequences of this could be hugely detrimental for companies who have already registered their product ranges to the existing BS 476 standards, necessitating a very time consuming and highly costly revalidation to the European standards.

We are formulating a response to the UK Government to express our deep concerns as to the proposals and to press for a reconsideration of the position.

The deadline for responses is 17th March 2023.

For further information in relation to IFSA’s activities please contact the association: contactus@ifsa.org.uk.