Construction professionals interested in preventing their projects becoming stranded assets keep an eye on the latest changes to fire and building regulations: these changed considerably over the last few years, impacting construction materials and processes.

The most pressing concern for most construction companies is balcony and terrace remediation work. In fact, if you look at cladding, it is estimated that there may be well over 10,000 mid & high-rise buildings in the UK that are still unsafe.

What does the regulatory landscape look like? We explore some potential future developments.

Explaining the Building Safety Regulator timeline

Established to protect high-rise residents from unsafe building practices in the wake of Grenfell, the BSR will play a central role in establishing safety standards over the coming years. It published a timeline of future developments.

Between April and October 2023, BSR changes will include:

• New duties for Accountable Persons for occupied higher-risk buildings.

• BSR becoming the Building Control Authority (BCA) and inspecting building work.

• Registers for building control inspectors and building control approvers.

• BSR assessing safety case reports for occupied higher-risk buildings.

• New regimes for competence of building control inspectors and performance of local building control bodies.

Evacuation procedures will affect construction standards

The need for codified emergency evacuation procedures was a key takeaway from Grenfell and other recent fires in multi-occupancy buildings. The Cube fire in Manchester is an insightful example. Situated in the heart of Bolton, it was a multi-occupied residential building comprising 200 student accommodation units.

The Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) report details how "with clear evidence that the building was failing to contain the fire… a full and immediate resident evacuation was instigated." The report surmised that the "change of advice to callers from stay put to evacuate… contributed to the reduction of injury and allowed all persons to safely leave the building."

The emphasis on evacuation procedures suggests lessons learned from these incidents may affect future regulations. For instance, in February 2023, second staircases were made a legal requirement in London for all new residential buildings above 30 metres (FPA). This could extend to multi-occupancy buildings under 30m in the future and other structural safety measures may be required as evacuation procedures are developed and standardised across UK fire forces.

Speed of innovation poses regulatory challenges

One of the principal challenges facing the government and construction sector is the speed of change. The pace of innovation is remarkable and new materials and designs are introduced regularly. However, as the GMFRS notes, this innovation means modern buildings react in unexpected ways to fire. "The fire at The Cube was not the first where a building has been seen to ‘fail' under fire conditions, in contrast with traditional knowledge and understanding of fire behaviour in the built environment" (ManchesterFire).

Zurich Insurance argues that "with such rapid innovation… it's hard for advice policy and procedure to keep up, especially with challenges arising from lack of large-scale testing, equipment limitations and research." To some degree, this means construction cannot rely on government regulation to dictate fire safety. To safeguard human life, prevent future remediation costs and protect asset value, construction professionals must prioritise fire safety by working with proven suppliers and materials. They must stay one step ahead of legislation.

What next?

While we cannot peer into our crystal ball and reveal exactly what will happen in the future, building fire regulations will continue evolving.

This will be compounded by regulatory changes in other areas, such as the environmentally inspired Future Buildings Standard due to come into force in 2025. While fire remediation may have been manageable on its own, construction firms will struggle to satisfy requirements in the wider regulatory landscape unless they begin planning now.

It is essential for construction to pre-empt the introduction of new regulations and begin using approved fire-safe materials. Futureproofing the value of real estate assets and preventing the need for expensive remediation projects more than justifies this investment. RYNO's IGNO-certified materials are an excellent example. IGNO marks a product as non-combustible and signifies a material that goes beyond compliance to incorporate built-in protection. RYNO's IGNO range will always comply with (and often exceed) building regulations, helping you to futureproof your construction projects and safeguard the value of your assets.