RIBA calls for schools and train stations to be classed as higher risk buildings under building safety regulations

RIBA has called for non-residential buildings including schools and train stations to be classed as ‘higher risk’ under the Building Safety Regulations in its full response to last year’s Grenfell Inquiry phase 2 report.

The institute wants all “assembly buildings”, defined in Approved Document B of the regulations as buildings other than dwelling houses as places where people gather for entertainment or recreation, to be subject to more stringent regulatory controls.

The definition encompasses a broad range of building types including places of worship, law courts, conference centres, film studios and public toilets, along with transport nodes such as airports.

Leisure buildings such as museums, sports stadiums, cinemas, theatres, music venues, art galleries, gyms, casinos, zoos, skating rinks, funfairs and amusement arcades are also included in the definition.

Educational buildings classed as places of assembly include indoor swimming pools, riding schools, sport pavilions, libraries and dancing schools, while health facilities including day centres, clinics and surgeries also fall under the definition.

Currently, higher risk buildings are classed as buildings over 18 metres in height with at least two dwellings, and must have any construction work signed off by approved building safety inspectors.

RIBA’s recommendations come four months after the publication of the Grenfell Inquiry’s report on 4 September last year with 58 recommendations for improving building safety, and ahead of the government’s official response to the report in March.

The institute has also backed the inquiry’s call for a single statutory body like the Engineering Council to oversee a “comprehensive” competence system for construction professionals and a “holistic” review of Approved Document B.

It wants both staircases in new residential buildings to required to function as fire-fighting staircases and a broader use of sprinklers across both new and converted buildings where there is a higher risk to vulnerable occupants.

Where existing residential buildings over 18m only have one staircase, it is calling for refurbishments with “appropriate safety measures as consequential improvements”.

Where retrofitting a second staircase in these buildings is not possible, it has urged alternative safety measures including evacuation lifts and better fire alarm systems.

> Also read: ‘We will deliver a generational shift’… Why the Grenfell Inquiry report means another building safety shake-up

RIBA has also backed the inquiry’s call for a single secretary of state to oversee fire safety, and a chief construction advisor to the government who is a “suitably qualified person” such as a chartered professional.

On operational changes, it would like to see independent research and development on construction product testing standards to “restore faith”, obligations of different project team members on construction schemes better defined and for all safety critical guidance to be freely available.

RIBA board chair Jack Pringle said the inquiry report made clear the need for a “fundamental shift in culture and behaviours”.

“The long-term efficacy of the construction sector hinges on making these evidence-based changes. It remains our duty to drive meaningful reform at all levels to deliver a built environment in which the public has complete confidence.”  

The inquiry’s phase 2 report looked into the causes of the fire which killed 72 people at Grenfell tower in June 2017 and followed seven years of hearings with evidence given by hundreds of people involved in the flawed refurbishment of the building which led to the disaster.