New Building Regulations for Wales

The Welsh Government recently announced changes to the Building Regulations in Wales. Among other changes, lower the height of a building from 15 m to 11 m so that where there is a material change in use of the whole building, then work must be carried out to ensure external walls meet certain requirements.

Also there is a change in the definition of ‘relevant building’ so that the ban on the use of combustible materials in external walls now applies to hostels, hotels, and boarding houses.

For building work in Wales, guidance on how to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations is given in a series of “Approved Documents”. Approved Document B covers fire safety matters and is split into separate guidance for dwellings and other buildings. These documents have also been updated both to reflect the amended regulations and best practice. Changes include:

• setting limits on certain combustible products for residential buildings with a storey between 11 and 18 m;
• evacuation alert systems;
• secure Information Boxes in all new blocks of flats with a floor of 11 m or more above ground level; and
• floor identification and flat wayfinding signage

A building’s regulations circular setting out these changes can be found on the Welsh government website.

Separately, a Building Safety (Wales) Bill has been laid before the Senedd; this bill is intended to improve the safety of people living in multi-occupied buildings in Wales. Key features of the Bill include:

• Requiring the registration of buildings that are at least 11 metres in height or which have at least 5 storeys with a building safety authority.
• Creating duties to assess and manage fire safety risks in all in-scope buildings.
• Creating duties to assess and manage structural safety risks in in-scope buildings that are at least 11 metres high or which have at least 5 storeys.
• Putting in place new rights for residents and placing duties on them in respect of all in-scope buildings.
• Establishing a new enforcement regime to enable enforcement action to be taken if the new duties are not met

You can find further information and track the progress of the Bill on the Senedd website.

If you have any questions or would like support with managing issues at your workplace, please speak to your usual contact or get in touch using the form below.