A Critical Appraisal of the UK’s Regulatory Regime for Combustible Façades

Abstract

proportionately large number of vertical and horizontal cavity barriers of a higher specification than required by statutory guidance. These aids to meeting the criteria are not proscribed by BS 8414-1 but are not commonly found in actual rainscreen system designs.

Smoke toxicity of rainscreen façades

“…no. 123694, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123694 2 standard, the BR 135 criteria, and the DCLG tests has been reported elsewhere 5 . Three combustible insulation products were reported to have met these criteria, two phenolic foams and one PIR foam.…”

Evaluating the fire risk associated with cladding panels: An overview of fire incidents, policies, and future perspective in fire standards

“…There has been consistent rectification of the relevant building regulations in various jurisdiction worldwide. [95][96][97][98] In the Australian context, the Lacrosse Building fire and the Grenfell Tower Fire have highlighted the need for regulatory reforms regarding flammable cladding material. Concerns have also been raised about other potentially flammable building materials.…”

“…BS 8414-1 is well-recognized in UK, China, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. 98 The test façade is configured according to the dimensions above with an expected heat output for the crib of 4500 MJ over 30 minutes to achieve the following exposure: (c) failure due to internal fire spread is determined when any internal thermocouple at level 2 exceeds 600 C above ambient for a period of at least 30 seconds, within 15 minutes of the fire spread start time.…”

Burning behaviour of rainscreen façades

“…In 2018, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) (now the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHCLG)) commissioned a series of BS 8414-1 tests on a set of building façades in the burn hall at BRE in the UK. The test construction was described in the reports and was not representative of typical building design and practice [8]. Of these tests, three involved the same combinations of ACM and insulation materials as our tests: PIR/PE [18], PIR/A2 [19] and SW/A2 [20].…”

“…These test results indicated that the use of ACM-A2 ensured the fire safety of tall buildings covered in combustible insulation, since they met the AD B criteria. A critique of the BS 8414 standard, the BR 135 criteria, the DCLG tests, and differences between facades constructed for fire tests and normal building industry practice has been reported elsewhere [8]. The aim of this work was to provide experimental data to inform the fire safety strategy for tall buildings.…”