Using the Building Regulations: Part M Access

Melanie Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2006
• eBook ISBN: 9781136349980
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Microeconomics
• Index: Economics

This informative book takes the practitioner through the requirements for Part M of the Building Regulations, explaining and expanding the guidance given in the Approved Document, and comparing the advice in BS83000 and other relevant publications. Access statements are demystified, and the implications for the building in use under the Disability Discrimination Act are clarified. It will inform all those working within the built environment, enabling them to deal with a complex and evolving area of the law which directly affects everyone.As with the other books in the Using the Building Regulations series Part M Access goes far beyond analysis of the Regulations and Documents themselves, and offers practical advice on using not just the traditional routes to compliance but also on the alternative approaches suggested but not explained in the Approved Documents. The advantages and disadvantages of each form of compliance are analysed in depth.

1
Series introduction

1.1 Introduction

Although we may not be aware of it, the influence of the Building Regulations is around us all of the time.

In our homes, building regulations affect and control the:

• size and method of construction of foundations, walls (both internal and external), floors, roofs and chimneys
• size and position of stairs, room exits, corridors and external doors
• number, position, size and form of construction of windows and external doors (including glazing)
• methods for disposing of solid waste
• design, construction and use of the services such as:
  • above and below ground foul drainage taking the waste from kitchen and bathroom appliances (including the design and siting of the appliances themselves)
  • rainwater disposal systems including gutters and downpipes from roofs and drainage from paths and paving
  • electrical installations
  • heating and hot water installations using gas, oil or solid fuel
  • fire detection and alarm systems
  • mechanical ventilation systems
• design and construction of the paths outside the house that:
  • lead to the main entrance, and
  • are used to access the place where refuse is stored.

In a similar manner, they also affect the places where people go when away from their homes such as:

• factories, offices, warehouses, shops and multi-storey car parks
• schools, universities and colleges
• leisure, sport and recreation centres
• hospitals, clinics, doctors surgeries, health care centres and other health care premises
• hotels, motels, guest houses, boarding houses, hostels and halls of residence
• theatres, cinemas, concert halls and other entertainment buildings
• churches and other places or worship.

In fact, anything that can normally be considered to be a building will be affected by building regulations. But it is not just the design and construction of the building itself that is controlled.

The regulations also affect the site on which the building is placed in order to:

• lessen the effect of fire spread between neighbouring buildings
• permit access across the site for the fire brigade in the event of fire
• allow access for disabled people who may need to get from a parking place or site entrance to the building, and
• permit access for refuse collection.

1.2 What are the Building Regulations?

When asked this question most people (assuming that they have even heard of the regulations) will usually bring to mind a series of A4 documents with green and white covers and the words “Approved Document” on the front! These documents are not, of course, the Building Regulations, but have come to be regarded as such by most builders, designers and their clients, and it is this misconception that has led to a great deal of confusion regarding the true nature of the building control system and the regulations. When applied to England and Wales, the Building Regulations consist of a set of rules that can only be made by Parliament for a number of specific purposes. The purposes include:

• ensuring the health, safety, welfare and convenience of persons in or about buildings and of others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings,
• furthering the conservation of fuel and power, and
• preventing waste, undue consumption, misuse or contamination of water.

The regulations may be made ‘with respect to the design and construction of buildings and the provision of services, fittings and equipment in or in connection with buildings’.

Originally (in Victorian times), the regulations (or byelaws as they were known then) were concerned only with public health and safety, but in the late twentieth century additional reasons for making building regulations were added so that it would now seem possible to include almost anything under the banner of ‘welfare and convenience’.

The Regulations are of two types:

• (a)those that deal with issues of procedure or administration such as:
  • the type of work to which the regulations apply
  • the method of making an application to ensure compliance and the information that must be supplied to the controlling authority
  • the frequencies and stages at which the control authorities must be informed of the work
  • details of the testing and sampling that may be carried out by the controlling authorities to confirm compliance
  • what sorts of work might be exempted from regulation control
  • what can be done in the event of the work not complying with the regulations
• (b)those that describe the ‘standards’ which must be met by the building (called ‘substantive’ requirements) such as:
  • the ability of the building to:
    • retain its structural integrity
    • resist the effects of fire and allow people to escape if a fire should occur
    • resist dampness and the effects of condensation
    • resist the passage of sound
    • minimize the production of carbon dioxide by being energy efficient
    • be safe to use, especially where hazards of design or construction might exist, such as on stairways and landings or in the use of glass in windows, doors or as guarding
    • maintain a healthy internal environment by means of adequate ventilation.
  • the safe installation and use of the building’s services including:
    • electric power and lighting
    • boilers, open fires, chimneys, hearths and flues
    • unvented heating and hot water systems
    • sanitary installations and above and below ground drainage
    • foul and waste disposal systems
    • mechanical ventilation and air conditioning systems
    • lifts and conveyors.

Because the regulations are phrased in functional terms (i.e. they state what must be achieved without saying how this must be done), they contain no practical guidance regarding methods of compliance. The intention of this approach is that it gives designers and builders flexibility in the way they comply, and it does not prevent the development and use of innovative solutions and new materials and methods of construction. Of course, much building work is done in traditional materials using standard solutions developed over many years and based on sound building practice. To assist designers and contractors in these accepted methods, the Government has provided non-mandatory guidance principally in the form of ‘Approved Documents’, there being an Approved Document that deals with each substantive provision of the Building Regulations. This does not prevent the use of other ‘official’ documents such as Harmonised Standards (British or European), and the adoption of other methods of demonstrating compliance such as past experience of successful use, test evidence, calculations, compliance with European Technical Approvals, the use of CE-marked materials etc.

1.3 How are the Regulations administered?

For most types of building work (new build, extensions, alterations and some use changes), builders and developers are required by law to ensure that they comply with the Regulations. At present this must be demonstrated by means of an independent check that compliance has been sought and achieved.

For this purpose, building control is provided by two competing bodies – Local Authorities and Approved Inspectors.

Both Building Control Bodies will charge for their services. They may offer advice before work is started, and both will check plans of the proposed work and carry out site inspections during the construction process to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements of the Building Regulations.

1.3.1 Local authority building control

Each Local Authority in England and Wales (Unitary, District and London Boroughs in England and County and County Borough Councils in Wales) has a Building Control section. The Local Authority has a general duty to see that building work complies with the Building Regulations unless it is formally under the control of an Approved Inspector.

Individual local authorities co-ordinate their services regionally and nationally (and provide a range of national approval schemes) via LABC Services. Full details of each local authority (contact details, geographical area covered, etc.) can be found at www.labc-services.co.uk.

1.3.2 Approved inspectors

Approved Inspectors are companies or individuals authorized under sections 47 to 58 of the Building Act 1984 to carry out building control work in England and Wales.

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) is responsible for deciding all applications for approved inspector status. A list of approved inspectors can be viewed at the Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors (ACAI) web site at www.acai.org.uk.

Full details of the administrative provisions for both local authorities and approved inspectors may be found in Chapter 5.

1.4 Why are the Building Regulations needed?

1.4.1 Control of public health and safety

The current system of building control by means of Government regulation has its roots in the mid-Victorian era. It was originally set up to counteract the truly horrific living and working conditions of the poor working classes who had flocked to the new industrial towns in the forlorn hope of making a better living. Chapter 2 of the first book in this series (Using the Building Regulations – Administrative Procedures, published by Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, ISBN 0 7506 6257 3) describes the factors which caused this exodus from the countryside and the conditions experienced by the incomers; factors which led to overcrowding, desperately insanitary living conditions and the rapid outbreak and spread of disease and infection. There is no doubt that a punitive system of control was needed at that time for the control of new housing, and the enforcement powers given to local authorities (coupled with legislation that dealt with existing sub-standard housing) enabled the worst conditions to be eradicated and the spread of disease to be substantially halted.

The Victorian system of control based purely on issues of public health and safety enforced by local authorities continued to be effective for the next 100 years, the only major change being the conversion of the system from local byelaws to national regulations in 1966.

1.4.2 Welfare and convenience and other controls

The first hint of an extension of the system from one based solely on public health and safety came with the passing of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act in 1974 (the 1974 Act). Part III of the 1974 Act was devoted entirely to changes in the building control system and regulations and it increased the range of powers given to the Secretary of State. Section 61 of the 1974 Act enabled him to make regulations for the purposes of securing the welfare and convenience (in addition to health and safety) of persons in or about buildings. Regulations could also be made now for furthering the conservation of fuel and power and for preventing the waste, undue consumption, misuse or contamination of water. The 1974 Act was later repealed and its main parts were subsumed into the Building Act 1984.

1.4.3 The new system and the extension of control

Initially, the new powers remained largely unused and it was not until the coming into operation of the completely revamped building control system brought about by the 1984 Act and the Building Regulations 1985 that the old health and safety-based approach began to change. The 1984 Act also permitted the building control system to be administered by private individuals and corporate (i.e. non-local authority) bodies called Approved Inspectors in com...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Author Biography
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• About this series of books
• About this book
• CHAPTER 1 Series introduction
• CHAPTER 2 General considerations
• CHAPTER 3 Access statements
• CHAPTER 4 Buildings other than dwellings
• CHAPTER 5 Dwellings
• CHAPTER 6 BS 8300 and The Disability Discrimination Act
• References, Bibliography and Further Reading
• Appendix 1 Comparisons of interpretations
• Appendix 2 Example extracts from Access Audits
• Appendix 3 Workshops: some commonly queried scenarios
• Index