Not long ago the BBC published an article on fire stopping or more the lack there of that had been found in properties built by one of the Nation’s largest domestic house developers. This comes as a surprise to some but unfortunately not too many. Developers have been scrutinised for many years for cutting corners and developing poor quality estates, all over the UK.
Essentially, the fire stopping had over 50 cases either not been installed, or installed to an unacceptable standard. Without even taking into consideration that Building Regulations are there to save lives and make buildings safe, these are some of the most important features of a home. When you have divisions between floors, or ownership, in a Semi-detached house for instance, these features are what save the overall building from completely being lost to fire. Fire stopping is installed between the party walls and the roof so that the fire is slowed or stopped from passing from property to property. You can imagine how disastrous this could be on a street of Terraces.
Whether the original plans had accounted properly for the separations and fire safety, I will never know. If you deal with reputable and competent designers and engineers, your plans will always account for the correct and most up to date standards where safety is concerned. Building Regulations can be long drawn out processes and drafting drawings for your extension or new build may feel like a long waiting game, but we take our time to keep you safe and design top specification homes and businesses.
