The flammable history of fire regulations

All the way back to 1666, in fact. The wigs are big. Someone has just set half of London on fire with what’s probably best described as an overcooked loaf of bread (if only Supalux had been a thing then).

Welcome to the Great Fire of London. Four days of flame, smoke, panic, and a vast number of diary entries from one Samuel Pepys (did you know that he buried his cheese in his garden to protect it from the fire?)

When the smoke died down, and the ashes settled, a chain of reactions was put in place that had an impact so huge the likes of you and I still feel it today.

This was the moment that people stood up, brushed the soot off their waistcoats, and realised that, if they wanted to prevent such a catastrophic event from happening again, they could look to provide guidance on how buildings were built. The city passed new building codes that said houses should no longer be made entirely out of wood, or crammed together like a metropolitan lasagne.

Thus began the steady march toward modern fire regulations.

The practise of stacking matchsticks

Fast forward about a hundred years. It’s decided that this guidance should really be written down. Formalised.

The Building Act of 1774 was born. This is a lovely bit of legislation.

It suggested that building houses with large timber features was a risk. It introduced fire walls, and party walls – the very same terminology we still use today.

It was, even by most standards, incredibly practical. It banned overhanging timber structures in London. It divided buildings into classes based on height and construction (sound familiar?).

Most importantly, it introduced the idea that before being able to construct a building, you should consult the relevant authority.

Victorian optimism on flammable liquids

Jump forward now into the oil-slicked chaos of the 19^th century. Steam locomotives were cutting transport times by days. Rubber had just been vulcanised. The world was practically exploding with innovation – but, occasionally, just exploding.

The Petroleum Acts of 1862, 1868, 1871, and finally 1881 were drafted in response to the storing of large quantities of flammable liquid being stored near considerable sources of ignition.

The first Petroleum Act, in 1862, required a license for storing more than forty gallons (not something you want sitting next to a kerosene lamp – electric lights didn’t really hit the bigtime for another 150-odd years).

But by 1871, regulations had not truly taken hold of the public. Further acts introduced stricter licensing and inspections, but it wasn’t until 1881 that a version was produced to say ‘right, enough of that’. This third version consolidated everything into one coherent piece of law.

Pudding, damp, and public health

A relatively quiet period for major regulatory or legislative change followed. Things were tweaked, or tightened, but it wasn’t until the 20^th century that major change was seen again.

The jazz age brought its new music, its penchant for chain smoking, and tower blocks. The Public Health Act was a major stagegate for health and safety, and it gave local authorities powers to regulate building construction. It quietly began to regulate risk factors, like the space between buildings, sanitation, and an age old enemy: damp.

The post-war era was a time of rebuilding, in more ways than one. For fire safety, it introduced new challenges. There had been a need to have more people housed under one roof than had been seen previously.

You’ll have to ask the council

Cue the Building Regulations 1965, replacing its predecessors with one master rulebook. Fire safety was baked into its core – like the raisins in bread and butter pudding. Rules were introduced about materials, about escape routes, about access for fire engines.

Not long after, the Fire Precautions Act of 1971, introduced rules that said buildings open to the public needed proper fire certificates. Then, the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987, highlighted the unique risks of sports stadiums, and a need for better routes of escape.

The modern-day maze

The early 2000s introduced a seismic shift for the way fire safety in buildings was regulated. The focus changed: rather than prescriptive rules, we needed performance-based regulations. In the millennium year, we had the very first iteration of the document we still use today. The big one.

Gather round. It’s time to talk about Approved Document B.

Document B is the part of the Building Regulations that deals with fire safety. Means of escape. Internal fire spread. External fire spread. Access and facilities for the fire service.

The first version still publicly accessible was issued in 2000, but it’s been updated several times since. Split into two volumes, it first covers dwellings – that’s houses, flats, bungalows. Volume 2 covers everything else - anything that isn’t technically a house (including, paradoxically, houses in multiple occupation).

It’s worth noting that while the document itself is called “Approved,” it is, officially, guidance – guidance on what will satisfy the requirements of the building regulations. 

And oh, it has been revised. At time of writing, it has been revised no less than seven times (with an eight revision due in the latter half of the year), and now includes guidance on combustible materials, and balcony construction, amongst other things.

Approved Document B is not light bedtime reading. It is technical. It is wordy. It has moments where your brain leaks gently out of your ears. But it is also one of the most important books in English construction.

Lessons written in smoke

Some of the most recent updates, including the forthcoming version, are in response to a tragic catalyst. In the worst way possible, the industry was reminded way that regulations are not abstract things - they are life and death. The Building Safety Act 2022 and subsequent changes have been brought in to address some of the changes that needed to be made. The creation of the Building Safety Regulator, new duties for duty holders, and greater scrutiny of high-rise design, are an effort to put fire safety at the beating heart of construction where it belongs.

We’ve read them, so you don’t have to

Which brings us to today.

The truth is, building regulations are complex. They have to be. They are built on centuries of change.

The rules will change again. They always do. Technology changes. Materials change. People change.

And that’s fine.

You don’t need to read every paragraph of every act ever passed. You don’t need to become an amateur historian of 19th-century petroleum licensing (unless you would particularly like to). You just need to have experts in your corner: the people who do live and breathe the products and systems they supply. People like Promat.

Fire safety is, ultimately, about people. Protecting the places we live and work.

At times, it’s necessary to look back and reflect on the past. To understand what’s led us to today. To see the learnings from the past, and what we can still take from them today.

Many of these age old rules still exist today (like those from the Petroelum Act). Some lessons really don’t need to be learned twice.