Guide to Part B

Simon Ham

July 2007
Code: 60834
ISBN: 1 85946 2715
978 1 85946 2713
160 pp
Paperback
£30.00

Guide to Part B will help architects and other construction professionals to achieve compliance with the new Approved Document B.

The new Part B is very different, being twice the size of the previous edition. It includes major changes to the compliance criteria and greater technical detail. Now published in two volumes, to cover domestic buildings (Volume 1) and non-domestic ones (Volume 2). They contain important alterations to the safeguarding of escape routes and significantly reduce the need to provide self closing doors within dwellings. Guidance is introduced on the provision of refuges and generally offers a broader range of solutions with greater emphasis on the role of sprinkler protection systems. Volume 2 clarifies the legal responsibility for the design team to identify and provide detailed information to the management, of non-domestic buildings, on the maintenance and operation of fire safety equipment and systems, taking into account the implications of the important Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 that came into force in October 2006.

Guide to Part B is written in an uncluttered, user-friendly style, presenting essential facts and guidance in a way that is most logical to the practitioner. Volumes 1 and 2 are considered in tandem to avoid duplication, starting with site layout issues and moving on to internal planning, construction, mechanical and electrical services and ending with guidance on fire safety engineering approaches. Overall, Guide to Part B will be an invaluable companion for construction professionals wanting reliable, straightforward guidance to the complex new Approved Documents.