Drawn to the special attention of the House
Building etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/603)
Date laid: 1 June 2022
Parliamentary procedure: negative
These Regulations amend the Combustible Materials Ban that was introduced in England in 2018 following the Grenfell Tower Fire. We note that the changes draw on a review of the Ban undertaken in 2019, and that it has taken the Department several years to bring forward this instrument. The changes will apply to new buildings, and to existing buildings only where they are undergoing work. This will therefore leave a significant number of existing buildings not covered by the Ban. We are disappointed that neither the EM nor the IA provide any indication of how long it will take under the chosen policy approach to make safe the existing stock of hotels, hostels and boarding homes which are higher than 18 metres. We note that for the changes to improve safety, they will have to be enforced by the building control bodies which are responsible for checking compliance and monitoring the operation of the Ban.
The Regulations are drawn to the special attention of the House on the ground that they are politically or legally important and give rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House.
1.This instrument has been laid before Parliament by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) with an Explanatory Memorandum (EM) and Impact Assessment (IA). The instrument amends the ban on combustible materials (“the Combustible Materials Ban”) that was introduced in England in 2018 following the Grenfell Tower Fire.1
2.DLUHC explains that the changes made by this instrument have been informed by a review of the Combustible Materials Ban undertaken in the autumn of 2019. This review involved the Building Regulations Advisory Committee and included a survey of stakeholders on the effectiveness and impact of the Ban.2 We note that it has taken the Department several years to bring forward this instrument.
Key changes made by the instrument
3.The Regulations:
- ban the use of certain metal composite materials from use in the external walls and specified attachments of all buildings;
- include within the scope of the Combustible Materials Ban elements of solar shading devices whose primary function is to provide shade or deflect sunlight;
- amend the list of materials exempted from the Combustible Materials Ban to include fibre optic cables and insulation up to 300 millimetres from ground level;
- update the ‘reaction to fire’ classification that materials must meet to comply with the Combustible Materials Ban, to the current version of the British Standard; and
- reduce the height at which a building must comply with the relevant standard on external fire spread on walls where there is a material change of use of the building, from 15 to 11 metres.
4.The instrument also brings hotels, hostels and boarding houses which are more than 18 metres in height within the scope of the Combustible Materials Ban. We asked the Department whether this will apply only to new buildings or whether it will also apply to existing buildings, thereby requiring potential remedial work.
5.DLUHC explained that the Combustible Materials Ban only applies when building work is carried out,3 and that this “would include building a new building or where work is being done to an existing building”. The Department added that the changes “will not require remedial work to be carried out on buildings where there is no building work happening”.
6.We note that the exemption for buildings which are not undergoing work will leave a significant number of existing buildings outside the scope of the Ban. We are disappointed that neither the EM nor the IA provide any indication of how long it will take under the chosen policy approach to make safe the existing stock of hotels, hostels and boarding homes which are higher than 18 metres.
7.The changes will come into force on 1 December 2022. We note that for the changes to improve safety, they will have to be enforced by the building control bodies which are responsible for checking compliance and monitoring the operation of the Combustible Materials Ban.
1 Building (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/1230), see: Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (Sub-Committee A), 9th Report (Session 2017–19, HL 251).
2 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Survey of the views of industry stakeholders on the effectiveness, issues and impacts of the initial operation of the ban in England on combustible materials in the external walls of buildings, (August 2019): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/857493/Adroit_Ban_Survey_Analysis.pdf [accessed 15 June 2022].
3 As defined in regulation 3 of the Building Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2214).