INCA, the Insulated Render and Cladding Association, are pleased to announce publication of Guidance Document 01: Fire Performance Requirements for EWI Systems which has been revised in June 2023.
The four geographic regions to which the Building Regulations apply, namely England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, each have their own provision for achieving an acceptable standard of fire performance. These specify requirements for the resistance to fire spread over external walls considering the height of the structure, space separation between buildings, position in relation to boundaries, unprotected areas, and the intended use of the structure.
Since original publication regulations have changed and so this revised guidance document was updated to include the amendments to The Building Regulations 2019 (England) incorporating 2020 & 2022 amendments and The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2020 incorporating 2021 & 2022 amendments. It also includes references to The Building Regulations 2006 (Wales) incorporating 2010, 2016,2020 & 2022 amendments.
INCA Technical Guidance Document 01: Fire Performance Requirements for EWI Systems
Revised in June 2023, this comprehensive 29 page guide is intended to provide general guidance on best practice in the four geographic regions to which the Building Regulations apply, namely England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Each have their own provision for achieving an acceptable standard of fire performance. These specify requirements for the resistance to fire spread over external walls considering the height of the structure, space separation between buildings, position in relation to boundaries, unprotected areas, and the intended use of the structure.
Building Regulations
The Building Regulations in the UK apply to the safe design and construction of new buildings and the refurbishment of existing structures and compliance to all aspects of these Regulations, including fire safety, is a legal requirement. England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all have their own guidance documents and within these are dedicated parts relating to all aspects of building fire safety. Each has provision for achieving adequate containment of fire spread over the external envelope of a structure and although the underlying principles are common to all, the requirements and guidance for individual UK regions may differ.
Within the Regulations reference is made to both British (BS) and European (BS EN) fire standards applicable to the surface spread of flame and fire performance on multi-storey buildings. This guide considers fire safety requirements in relation to the regulations and these standards.
In conjunction with this guide, it is important to read the current Regulations and approval documents. This guide is intended as an overview to inform the reader about the fire performance of cladding systems and should not be used to demonstrate compliance to the Regulations.
Legislation
When considering the design of EWI systems the parts of the Regulations relating to the construction of external wall cladding should include specific reference to non-load bearing EWI systems in terms of combustibility, structure height and the intended use of the structure. However, these should never be assessed in isolation and without reference to other related and relevant parts of the Regulations.
The INCA Technical Guidance Document 01- Fire Performance Requirements for EWI Systems can be downloaded by following the link below:
INCA Technical Guidance Document 01 – Fire Performance Requirements for EWI Systems
Alternatively it can be accessed via the Guidance Documents in the INCA Knowledge Hub.
Disclaimer
Obviously, things do change and so we must add the disclaimer that the Regulations, Standards, and other references given in this document are believed to be correct at the time of issue. These documents remain subject to regular review, amendments, and updates. Whilst INCA will endeavour to review the current status of the documents, the reader is advised to check that they are still valid and that they reference the latest versions and Regulations.