Building Control Alliance

[edit] Background

The Building Control Alliance is an industry group comprising clients, stakeholders and organisations directly involved in building control in England and Wales. It was launched in 2007, and aims at setting and maintaining high standards in the building control industry whilst responding to Government proposals using a coordinated approach. A voluntary membership organisation, it was later incorporated as a limited company, established in 2008 to promote the role of building control organisations, publish guidance and provide a mediation service to resolve differences between Local Authorities and Approved Inspectors. Diane Marshall, was initially Chairman of BCA and Group Head of Building Control at NHBC and the founding bodies of the BCA were:

• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
• Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
• The Association of Building Engineers (ABE)
• Local Authority Building Control (LABC), and
• The Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors (ACA)

[edit] Status and related bodies

It is unclear of the current status of the BCA but it website is currently no longer live. Other building control bodies with similar functions have also included the Building Control Performance Standards Advisory Group (BCPSAG) which included a member of BCA and was a sub-committee of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) for England and and the Building Advisory Committee (BRAC) for Wales. The Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) and all its associated technical working groups including the Building Control Performance Standards advisory group (BCPSAG) stopped performing their functions on 1 April 2023. A letter on Operational Standards Rules for Building Control Bodies, published on 3 April 2023, set out the new building control reporting requirements and the committee arrangements in the Building Safety Regulator.

[edit] Publications

Some of the last reports and guidance published by the body were in and around 2018, many of which are now withdrawn. See below:

BCA Final Certificate |Protocol, BCA Initial Notice Protocol 2018, BCA Policy Note 2 Work within 5 day period of serving an Initial notice 2011, BCA Policy Note 3Transfer of an ongoing project from an Approved Inspector to another building control body, DCLG Approved Inspectors Regulation 17_Circular Letter, DCLG Fire door tests circular letter

In particular the 'BCA Technical Guidance Note 18 - Use of Combustible Cladding Materials on Residential Buildings' Issue 0 dated June 2014 and published by the BCA (and now also withdrawn) was referenced in the Independent Grenfell Inquiry Volume 4. Part 6 – The refurbishment of Grenfell Tower as such:

'49.6 The Building Control Alliance (‘BCA’) was formed in 2008 to represent the interests of those involved in carrying out building control functions, both local authorities and approved inspectors, and to promote consistency in the interpretation of the Building Regulations and statutory guidance. From time to time its Technical Group published guidance notes intended to assist building control officers in carrying out their functions.

49.7 In June 2014 BCA produced version 0 of its Technical Guidance Note 18 entitled Use of Combustible Cladding Materials on Residential Buildings (TGN 18).44 The introduction to TGN 18 stated that the note outlined the procedures referred to in paragraph 12.5 of Approved Document B for demonstrating compliance with functional requirement B4(1) and set out to address common misconceptions relating to combustibility and surface spread of flame ratings.

49.8 Under the heading “Key Issues”, TGN 18 stated that the spread of fire by way of the external wall is exacerbated by the use of combustible materials and extensive cavities. It warned that within the confines of a cavity, flames can elongate up to ten times in search of oxygen, meaning that there is a need for robust cavity barriers, restricted combustibility of key components and the use of materials with a low spread of flame rating.

49.9 Importantly, TGN18 made it clear that a surface spread of flame classification does not indicate that the material is not combustible. It went on to state that:

“Thermosetting insulants (rigid polyurethane foam boards) do not meet the limited combustibility requirements of AD B2 Table A7 and so should not be accepted as meeting AD B2 paragraph 12.7. However, if they are included as part of a cladding system being tested to BR135 & BS8414, the complete assembly may ultimately prove to be acceptable. The BR135 / BS8414 tests deal solely with the spread of fire once it has entered the cavity. Hence, the requirements for cavity barriers in accordance with Section 9 of AD B2 are required in all cases including around openings in the façade.”

49.10 TGN 18 went on to recommend three options for demonstrating compliance with paragraph 12.7 of Approved Document B.48 Option 1 was the use of materials of limited combustibility for all elements of the cladding system both above and below 18 metres. Option 2 was to demonstrate that the entire system met the performance criteria in BR 135 when tested in accordance with BS 8414. Option 3 was to submit a desktop study report from “a suitable independent UKAS accredited testing body” based on test data already in its possession stating whether, in its opinion, the proposed system would meet the criteria in BR 135. As far as we are aware, that was the first occasion on which it had been formally suggested that a desktop study could provide a means of demonstrating compliance with functional requirement B4(1). It was not referred to in Approved Document B and was not the method adopted in connection with the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.

49.11 A further edition of TGN 18 (version 1) published in July 2015 contained similar warnings about external fire spread.49 This revised guidance made it clear that a wider group of thermosetting insulants did not meet the limited combustibility requirements of Approved Document B Table A7, including polyisocyanurate and polystyrene foam boards. When dealing with desktop study reports the guidance now said that a report from a “suitably qualified fire specialist” based on test data from a suitable independent UKAS accredited testing body was acceptable, without indicating what qualifications might be required for the purpose. The effect of that change was to increase the number of persons who might be considered suitable to carry out such a study. This version also introduced a fourth option in the form of a “holistic fire-engineered approach” taking into account “the building geometry, ignition risk and factors restricting fire spread etc.” That method was not adopted in connection with the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.'

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Building Advisory Committee.
• Building regulations.
• Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC).
• Building safety.
• Building Safety Act.
• Building Safety Regulator.
• Fire safety.
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
• Statutory approvals for buildings.