Elements of structure in buildings
Approved document B, Fire Safety, Volume 2, Buildings other than dwellinghouses (2019 edition), suggests an ‘element of structure’ is any of the following:
- A member that forms part of the structural frame of a building, or any other beam or column.
- A loadbearing wall or loadbearing part of a wall.
- A floor.
- A gallery (but not a loading gallery, fly gallery, stage grid, lighting bridge, or any gallery provided for similar purposes or for maintenance and repair).
- An external wall.
- A compartment wall (including a wall that is common to two or more buildings).
The guidance to requirement B3, paragraph 6.2, lists structures that are not considered to be elements of structure:
- The roof performs the function of a floor, such as for parking vehicles, or as a means of escape.
- The structure is essential for the stability of an external wall that needs to be fire resisting (e.g. to achieve compartmentation or for the purposes of preventing fire spread between buildings).
- The lowest floor of the building.
- A platform floor.
- External walls, such as curtain walls or other forms of cladding, which transmit only self weight and wind loads and do not transmit floor load.
NOTE: In some cases, structural members within a roof may be essential for the structural stability system of the building. In these cases, the structural members in the roof do not just support a roof and must demonstrate the relevant fire resistance for the building as required by the note to paragraph 6.1 (If one element of structure supports or stabilises another, as a minimum the supporting element should have the same fire resistance as the other element).
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Adaptive structures.
- Approved Document A.
- BRE Building Elements series (AP 243).
- Compression.
- Dead loads.
- Deflection.
- Detailed structural design.
- Dry riser.
- Elastic limit.
- Escape route.
- Fire and rescue service.
- Fire compartment.
- Fire damper.
- Fire detection and alarm systems.
- Fire door.
- Firefighting route.
- Fire protection engineering.
- Fire resistance.
- Joint fire code.
- Lean to.
- Live loads.
- Means of escape.
- Multi-storey structure.
- Protected escape route.
- Span.
- Stiffness.
- Structural principles.
- Structural vibration.
- Types of column.
- Types of structural load.
- Types of structure.
- Unprotected escape route.
- Wet riser.
Featured articles and news
Conserving the Hilda Besse Building
Improving facilities, accessibility and overall appearance.
BSRIA IAQ topic guide published
Free download of TG 12/2021 available.
Electrotechincal mentors wanted
TESP works with The Youth Group to form skill sharing network.
OpenBuilt supply chain technology in development
Big tech collaborates on platform for the built environment.
Concerns raised over Future Buildings Standard
Letter signed by 21 organisations sent to MHCLG.
The infrastructure planning process
A look at the Government's strategic approach.
Steps to help reduce the spread of infection inside buildings.
Urban exploration and construction
This social media-centred hobby can be both dangerous and illegal.
Millwork wall treatment with a long and illustrious history.
Weekly workplace noise estimator tool
HSE introduces cumulative exposure calculator.
The Edwardians and their houses.
Cut off from civilian life for over 900 years.
Can net zero and levelling-up align?
Gaining green support from the carbon giants.
Receive the Designing Buildings newsletter
Click the button to subscribe.