Posted 19.12.19
Welsh Government: Further reading
Welsh Housing Minister Julie James has announced that the use of combustible cladding on the external walls of high rise buildings in Wales will be banned from 13 January 2020.
Following the Grenfell Tower fire, Dame Judith Hackitt's independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety made recommendations for significant changes in the treatment of high risk residential buildings of 10 storeys or more from their construction through to occupation.
Ministers made a commitment that the Welsh Government would move to ban the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings in Wales (18m or more).
The Minister has now approved the Regulations that will put a ban in place that will apply to combustible cladding on all new residential buildings (flats, student accommodation and care homes) and hospitals over 18m in height.
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Posted 04.12.19
National Fire Chiefs Council: Further reading
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has submitted a response to the Government's Approved Document B consultation paper 'Sprinklers and other fire safety measures in high-rise blocks of flats'.
The NFCC response champions and demands the increased use of sprinklers across the board and a lowering of the threshold for their use in high-rise blocks of flats from 11m (or 4 floors) - as a minimum.
Chair of the NFCC, Roy Wilsher, said that a number of factors - including new evidence, the findings of the Independent Review, recent fires and Government policy announcements - have made it necessary to lower the threshold.
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