POLICY | HYWEL DAVIES Under review The Grenfell Inquiry considered the requirements of Part B of the Building Regulations and associated guidance and a review of the Approved Document was announced in 2020. Hywel Davies looks at the progress of workstreams supporting improved fire safety design guidance I n April 2020, the government gave an overview of the research to be commissioned to inform the technical review of the fire safety guidance contained in Approved Document B (ADB). Ten packages of research or evidence gathering were advertised for tender and contractors appointed, with expert steering groups to support them. These commissions cover a range of topics based on the call for evidence around Part B that was issued in December 2018. Each of the topics is an area in which we need to know more to improve fire safety-related design in buildings. The current state of the various workstreams is described below, and provides an overview of the work under way to support the development of revisions to current guidance in ADB. 1. Specialised housing and care homes: A study of current design approaches, and establishing current operational, management and usage practices across the specialised housing and care home sector. This workstream will review the effectiveness of current provisions in ADB and consider international approaches. It will also include further research into alternative approaches to fire safety in these types of buildings. The project is under way with outputs being considered by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. 2. Means of escape for disabled people: Research into whether the current provisions in ADB are fit for purpose, based on realistic expectation of management and building use. The research will consider up-to-date evidence and whether current practices are effective in meeting the minimum requirements under Part B1 of Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations (2010). This project is under way. 3. Balconies, spandrels and glazing: This work sets out to develop a comprehensive evidence base of common modern design approaches to balconies, spandrel panels and glazing. It is conducting a review of fire risk from these elements and, where appropriate, is intended to deliver an experimental programme to develop a robust evidence base to support the ADB review. This work is awarded and under way. 4. Structural fire resistance and fire separating elements: This will assess current provisions in ADB for structural fire resistance and fire-separating elements. It will establish the evidence base, and review it in the light of modern evidence on design, technology and fire loading. It will also investigate alternative approaches. This work is under way. 5. Trigger heights and thresholds: This workstream is under way and considering the thresholds now used Each topic is an area in which we need to know more to improve fire safetyrelated design DR HYWEL DAVIES is technical director at CIBSE www.cibse.org 16 August 2022 www.cibsejournal.com