FPA calls for extended ban on combustible cladding
In the latest FPA call to the UK Government changes on building regulations, the problem of combustible cladding was raised again.
This time, the Fire Protection Association claims that “the ban on combustible cladding should be extended on all high-risk buildings, not only on the buildings over 18m high.”
After two years from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, 164 out of 175 private sector residential blocks haven’t removed and replaced aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding yet. According to Government data, 70 of these developments don’t have a plan in place to remediate flammable cladding at all.
A ban on single staircases in tall buildings was proposed due to the need of at least two ways of access in event of a fire, one for evacuating residents and one to facilitate the fire services intervention.
FPA supports third-party certification to provide independent verification of buildings regulations services and the mandatory installation of multi sensor detectors (heat, smoke and carbon monoxide).
The British Standards Institute (BSI) has published a revised version of BS 5839-6: 2019 standard for fire detection and fire alarm systems: https://www.thefpa.co.uk/about/news/news_detail.bsi-launches-full-fire-safety-standard-revision.html
