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I'm not quite sure what you're asking for?

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, however, I am wondering if anyone is able to provide some clarification on the following point. We're currently designing a play area which, when looking at Approved Document B volume 2, falls under the "Assembly and Recreation" classification. This classification seems to have quite an impact on both the surface classification of materials and the fire insulation and integrity of the external wall build up. The development is greater than 5m in height but less than 18m, and has walls that are within 1000mm of a relevant boundary. Some of these boundaries are adjoining an existing building within the same ownership, others are neighbouring houses. When looking at the building regulations it refers you to table A1 for external walls, then because of the classification type, refers you to table A2 which asks for 60minutes insulation and 60minutes integrity for those within 1000mm of a relevant boundary and 60minutes integrity and 15minutes insulation for those external walls greater than 1000mm from a relevant boundary. The materials also need to be class 0 where less than 1000mm and no less than class 20 anywhere else (giving the use type and design/height of the building) We have spoken to Kingspan who have provided product specifications for insulated panel types that will give the indicated fire rating requirements however with both of the panel types they have recommended that are asking for a firewall system to be used as the as the proprietary system. Does this imply that every wall will need to be lined internally to give the fire insulation and fire integrity requirements regardless of the system type or are you able to achieve the required ratings with insulated panels and sheeting rails alone? I may be getting myself mixed up on the matter so any clarification is appreciated. Thanks in advance James

This is the response I have received from the mayor of North Tyneside: "I have liaised with our Building Control team who have provided me with the following information. I would advise that the Building Regulations require nothing to be done except for the purpose of securing reasonable standards of health and safety, i.e. reasonable provision must be made. The guidance in approved document B Vol 1 requires the installation of FD20 doors in the property in question. This guidance also mentions the use of steel hinges resistant to fire for a set period, min 800 degrees C. The hinges installed in this case exceed that requirement, i.e. 1400 degrees C. The industry standard, including guidance from the Building Control Alliance, is for such doors to be used in situations such as the one which exists on this site. This is widely accepted practice throughout England and is accepted as providing a sufficient level of protection to escape routes within dwellings. This is also accepted without objection from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG); the government department which oversees Building Regulations and was confirmed by them only last week in response to this query. This has been the case for many years, i.e. the use of such doors in this situation unsupported by fire tests or independent certification. The DCLG have also previously confirmed that to provide reasonable compliance all that is required is a reasonably robust door, not necessarily a fire door. This is deemed sufficient to protect the escape in dwelling as part of the overall fire safety measures within the dwelling which also includes management of the property by the householder i.e. closing doors at night etc. Many non-fire rated doors satisfy this requirement. The standards being quoted by the owner are in excess of that required to show compliance with the Building Regulations. I understand that there have been many points raised regarding the suitability of the installed doors, not least of which revolve around the suitability of the hinges. In particular, that the hinges are not in accordance with the Construction Products Regulations (CPR) as they are not CE marked. This is not a requirement under the Building Regulations; indeed I would point out that Building Control have no enforcement powers with respect to CPR, CE marks, British Woodworking Federation or British Hardware Manufacturers requirements. They all have their own guidance/standards but it is not incumbent on Building Control to enforce them. Building Control only has to ensure reasonable provision has been made; hence the use of a reasonably robust door is acceptable. Building Controls’ remit is to make a judgement on whether the objectives of the Building Regulations have been met. A degree of flexibility is built into the Building Regulations guidance documents to assist with this. As mentioned previously, the widely accepted industry practice is to install doors such as these in this typical situation. This has been confirmed in my recent conversation with the Department for Communities and Local Government, Building Regulations Division (DCLG) and previous technical information from the Building Control Alliance (BCA). Regulation 7 of the Building Regulations whilst referring to CE compliance also allows other avenues for compliance, i.e. past experience can be taken into consideration. You also makes reference to Regulation 38 of the Building Regulations (Information to be provided by the person carrying out the work/Fire safety information).This only applies to relevant buildings, the definition of which relates to the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (RRFSO). This is not applicable in this case, i.e. it does not apply to dwellings. Dwelling houses are not covered by the RRFSO. As you are concerned about the quality and acceptability of the works it is recommended that you take this up with Persimmon Homes as a civil matter and/or pursue with Trading Standards if not successful in dealing directly with the Contractor. I understand that the dwellings have been and will be issued with completion certificates once the inspecting surveyor is satisfied that the Building Regulations have been complied with." I find it hard to believe that they can ignore the damage to the doors and frames let alone the unsatisfactory installation.

The issue I am having is this as it stands I do not believe the fire doors installed in my property are indeed fire doors, because of their standard of installation. I live in town house, with a floor above 4.5m and therefore it is a requirement for the house to have a compartmentalised staircase to provide a safe escape route in the event of a fire. The building control requirements are for an FD20 door, but no FD20 doors exist as it is impossible to test to. The doors installed are therefore FD30 door leafs, this has been confirmed by the confirmation of a BWF certificate on the top of the leaf and confirmation from Premdor. However this is where I believe, and have had confirmed by numerous other industry professionals, that compliance with Building Regulations ends. The manufacturers certificate stipulates the way in which the door has been tested and how it must be installed to work as a fire door. It gives very similar information to the BWF's own guidance. I did the 5 step check on the doors and this is a summary of what I found: Four of my door leafs do indeed have a certificate, One of the doors has a damaged certificate, therefore inline with the BWF guidance and Premdors Certification and Guarantee this door does not comply and can not be used as a fire door. The gaps to the undersides of my doors are close to if not in excess of the 10mm maximum allowance for doors. In fact my Kitchen door is actually 20mm. This exceeds the manufacturer's allowance and the BWF's and building regulations. The doors as installed are certified as fire doors on the basis that an intumescent strip is installed. This is because, as the manufacturer's certificate states, they have been tested as fire doors with an intumescent strip and are therefore required to have one. The intumescent strips installed are faulty, loose or missing and therefore do comply with the manufacturer's certificate and therefore are not compliant as the manufacturers certificate relies on these being in place. The hinges, to comply with the BWF certificate the manufacturers guidelines and the british standards, need to be CE marked to comply with all of the aforementioned. The hinges as installed do not have CE marks, there is no proof of one and such they do not comply and therefore are not fire doors. The doors also, as part of the manufacturer's certificates, need to be sealed. None of the doors are sealed fully and therefore do not comply. Building control are insisting that the doors do not have to be installed in this manner, and that it is only reasonable provision that needs to be provided, yet there is no proof that the doors will satisfy an FD20 rating because it is impossible to test or prove, it has only ever been proven as a fire door as tested. Building control are also insisting that as long the door hinges are not aluminium they will sign them off and that the CE marks are a trading standards issue. As I understand it hinges used on fire doors are covered by a harmonised European standard (hEN) and british standard which states they have to be proven to be fire resistant and therefore must be CE marked to prove this, this is written into law. No fire door hinges can be sold on the european market without a CE mark and yet building control are insisting that it's not a requirement and as long as they aren't aluminium they don't care. They also are adamant a gap greater than 20mm under my kitchen door is acceptable and that the gaps around the other doors satisfy as well. They also aren't concerned by the damage behind the hinges where one door is split and gaps are present. My concern is this, the doors as they stand, do not meet any level of standard set out by the BWF or any manufacturer or fire safety site, they do not comply with european or british law (hinges primarily) and the only people saying they are fine are those from building control who have also been paid to provide LABC warranties on the property. They have also told me in an email that they will be issuing a completion certificate once the external works (which were built level with my DPC) are corrected. Included is a link to an album showing the installation of the doors briefly. Thank you for any help https://photos.app.goo.gl/YnIRD2fV05ISpk7y1