The Building Acts and Regulations Applied

Buildings for Public Assembly and Residential Use

C.M.H. Barritt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317884866
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

This book forms part of a unique, highly practical and time-saving three volume presentation of the Building Regulations, each book covering all the regulations relating to specific building usage. The chapters of each volume form self-contained units covering all the Regulation requirements applicable to a particular part of a building; thus the reader can ensure that all the Regulations are fully met. Also included is a digest of published standards, guides and technical information as well as reviews of the new Eurocodes currently being introduced. The Building Acts and Regulations Applied: Buildings for Public Assembly and Residential Use covers all the regulations relating to buildings used for public assembly or residential purposes (other than houses and flats), such as theatres, sports stadia, hotels, prisons and halls of residence. It is a useful course companion for BTEC HNC/D and degree courses in building, architecture, surveying, estate management and other built environment disciplines. It is also an ideal reference source for all professionals working in these areas.

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1	About this book

This is the third in a trilogy of books on the subject of the Building Regulations and their attendant legislation. The first book dealt with the regulations applying to houses and flats and the second dealt with shops, offices and factories. As there are many other building types this book aims to cover the legislation applicable to all the rest. The title, Buildings for Public Assembly and Residential Use, attempts to describe this wide coverage and the details of the precise building types to which the book refers is given below in Section 1.3.

The basis of the book is the Building Regulations 1991 and its supporting Approved Documents. There is not a great deal of directly applicable rules set out in the Building Regulations and Documents. Instead, reference is made to the British Standards and similar guides. To ensure that the guidance in this book is as complete as it can be, the relevant Standards have been summarized as far as is practicable, to provide the information essential to the general building practitioner. It is neither possible nor really desirable to quote the whole of the British Standard but it should be recognized that, in specific circumstances, it may be necessary to obtain the full facts, in which case the original Standard should be consulted. Nor will these summaries be of great benefit to a specialist because the selected information is of a general nature and more relevant to the needs of the designer, builder and site supervisor than to the consultant.

1.2	The development of building control legislation

Historically, there have been a wide variety of forms of building control used to set standards, each with varying degrees of efficacy. In this country, control has been applied to buildings for private housing purposes for a long time but Building By-laws or Regulations relating to buildings used for the purposes covered in this book are of a more recent introduction.

The earliest, really comprehensive, building control legislation was contained in the Public Health Act of 1845. Being stimulated by public anxiety at the very low living standards in many areas of the country it, naturally, made housing its primary concern. In 1936, new legislation in the form of another Public Health Act was enacted and applied to all buildings. It was left to the local authorities to set and maintain standards and much of the by-law control was framed so that it could only apply to domestic work.

The concept of control by defining standards of performance to be achieved by the building fabric (rather than specifying how to build) was introduced in the Model By-Laws of 1952. They immediately opened the way to the introduction of new materials and technologies and effectively extended the application of control to buildings larger than houses. More particularly, they embraced the control of framed structures.

The Public Health Act of 1961 provided the basis for a national set of building regulations. These became the Building Regulations 1965 and continued the development of the control principal started in 1952. This, and a succession of amendments were consolidated into one set of Regulations in 1972 and, at the same time, the metric system of measurement replaced the imperial.

In 1974 the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act took over the building control powers of the Public Health Acts and considerably extended the scope, purpose and coverage possible under the Building Regulations.

Three major amendments to the 1972 Regulations were made and, in 1976, a new and greatly enlarged set of Building Regulations was approved, to include the amendments and introducing a number of other significant changes. Apart from four further amendments, the first of which extended the thermal insulation requirements to embrace the type of buildings covered in this book instead of only dwellings, the next, and last, major change came about with the 1985 Regulations. These did not introduce many new requirements but totally revised the manner of presentation.

The basis set out in 1985 is still followed in the current regulations. These appear as brief functional requirements, which are the actual Regulations supported by Approved Documents. Since the latter explain, rather than state, the law, they can be written in everyday language and illustrated. Previous Building Regulations had to be written in parliamentary prose that might have been very precise in its definition but made for difficulties in understanding the requirements. The 1985 Regulations also introduced the concept of private certification but, as yet, this has only been taken up by the National House-Building Council, solely in relation to housing work.

A number of amendments to the 1985 Regulations were published in 1989 and 1991 and are contained in this book where appropriate. The 1991 amendments particularly affected dwellings by the introduction of the need to produce an energy rating of the proposal.

1.2.1 The Building Act 1984

The 1985 Building Regulations mentioned previously were made under powers conferred on the Secretary of State by the Building Act 1984.

Not only did this Act take over the enabling of Building Regulations previously contained in the Health and Safety at Work, etc, Act, it also brought together most of the legislation relating to building work that had been scattered in 46 other Acts or Instruments; the principal changes that were made affected the Public Health Acts of 1936 and 1961, the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act 1974 and the very short-lived Housing and Building Control Act 1984.

1.2.2 Other relevant Acts

Although the Building Act 1984 brought together those parts of other enactments that impinged upon the building construction, the provision of accommodation for use as a shop, office or factory is still affected by the legislation retained in these other Acts. Principally these are:

• Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963

• Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975

• Clean Air Act 1956

• Highways Act 1980

• Fire Precautions Act 1971

• Water Industry Act 1991

• Water Resources Act 1991

• Statutory Water Companies Act 1991

• Land Drainage Act 1991

• Control of Pollution Act 1974

As well as these Acts there are many which refer to a specific building use; where this is the case, due regard must be paid to any requirements imposed by this legislation, over and above that set out in the Building Regulations. Examples of these specific Acts are:

• The Celluloid and Cinematograph Film Act 1922 and the Cinemas Act 1985. These are administered by the local authority and, obviously, apply to cinemas.

• The Theatres Act 1968 obviously applies to theatres.

• The Licensing Act 1964 applies to any premises where alcoholic drinks are sold.

• Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975. Under this Act, a local authority is required to issue a Certificate of Safety in respect of the entrances and exits, in which case, Sections 24 and 71 of the Building Act and any provisions under the Fire Precautions Act do not apply. (See Chapter 15.)

• Prisons Act 1952. The requirement of this Act is that the cells are certified by an inspector with regard to size, lighting, heating, ventilation and fittings as being adequate for health and allowing a prisoner to communicate with a prison officer.

• The National Health Service and Community Act 1990 removed Crown immunity from health authorities, which means that Building Regulation Consent must be obtained from the building control authority. The National Health Service Estates publish a number of guides to hospital building under the general title of ‘Firecode’; some of these are practice notes and some are Health Technical Memoranda (HTM). The Secretary of State has agreed that hospitals designed on the basis of HTM 81 or Nucleus Fire Precautions Recommendations will satisfy the requirements of Part B1 of Approved Document B to the Building Regulations, with one exception. Section 17 of Approved Document B deals with access for fire fighters. If the details in the Document are followed in the case of a hospital designed round a hospital ‘street’, an excessive number of stairways results. In these circumstances, the requirements are detailed in HTM 81. The principle of hospital ‘street’ design is further explained in Chapter 8.

The latest legislation affecting building is the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CONDAM). These Regulations are made under the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act and place statutory functions on all parties concerned with construction work. They deal with planning before starting work, mainly design and construction, and continue throughout the structure’s subsequent life-span. The parties concerned are the client, a planning supervisor, the designer and the contractor.

It is a du...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
• Chapter 2 MATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP
• Chapter 3 WORK BELOW GROUND
• Chapter 4 EXTERNAL WALLS
• Chapter 5 GROUND FLOORS
• Chapter 6 SUSPENDED UPPER FLOORS
• Chapter 7 ROOFS
• Chapter 8 INTERNAL WALLS
• Chapter 9 WINDOWS, VENTILATION OPENINGS, FIRE DOORS AND ENTRANCES
• Chapter 10 STAIRCASES, RAMPS, TERRACED SEATING AND VIEWING SLOPES
• Chapter 11 HEARTHS FOR SOLID FUEL APPLIANCES, FLUES AND CHIMNEYS
• Chapter 12 GAS- AND OIL-FIRED EQUIPMENT, HEATING, HOT WATER AND LIGHTING
• Chapter 13 WASHROOMS, TOILETS AND ABOVE GROUND DRAINAGE
• Chapter 14 BELOW GROUND DRAINAGE, RAINWATER DISPOSAL AND SOLID WASTE STORAGE
• Chapter 15 MEANS OF ESCAPE AND FIRE-FIGHTING FACILITIES
• Chapter 16 PROVISIONS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE
• Chapter 17 CAR PARK BUILDINGS AND SURFACE PARKING AREAS
• Index