Since the Building Safety Act 2022 was introduced following the Grenfell tragedy, construction safety and fire compliance has changed for the better. The changes have been significant and this has made it difficult for those in construction to keep up with new legislation and remain compliant.
One of the biggest changes has been the phasing out of BS 476-22 in favour of the European standards such as EN 1634-1. In this blog, we are going to simplify the changes and what you need to do and by when.
What is BS 476?
BS476 and EN1634 are both standards that have been used for fire testing
BS476 has long been the British Standard for fire testing building materials and structural elements. It provided a framework for grading fire resistance across different parts of a building, with Part 22 specifically covering the fire performance of doors. Although it is now being phased out in favour of European standards like BS EN 1634-1 by 2 September 2029.
BS 476-22 was written in 1987 and over the last 38 years, knowledge on best practice for fire safety have massively changed, as have the materials used.
What is EN 1634?
In 2001 the European Standard BS EN1634-1 was launched. BS EN1634-1 was created as an evidence-based standard, in comparison to BS 476 which is more opinion-based. BS EN1634-1 has defined rules and requires more arduous testing than BS 476-22 and leads into working with other European Standards.
As of 2 September 2029, only the EN standards can be used to define fire performance.
Which standard do doors need to be tested to?
Testing to BS 476-22 is compliant but not best practice and should have been withdrawn before the end of the coexistence period in 2029. We test our doors to the EN standards so they can be specified for projects post 2029 and the EN standards help to bring safer products to the market through more stringent testing.
What happens to BS 476-22 after 2 September 2029?
All national standards have been removed from building regulations with regard to fire protection performance, so all of the parts of BS476 for both reaction and resistance to fire in Approved Document B have been removed. Only the EN standards can be used to define performance from the end of the 5-year coexistence period which is 2 September 2029.
In addition, all opinion-based Field of Application reports and engineered assessments have also been taken away as a way of demonstrating fire resistance performance. All reports used for fire doors will have to have a formal classification to EN13501-2 and this means all that can be covered is what has been directly tested and is further covered by Direct Field of Application rules and or extended application rules from the EN15269 series of EXAP standards.
Conclusion
Although testing to BS 476-22 is still compliant, we have always tested to EN 1634-1 to provide safer products to the market. If you require support in specifying a compliant solution, speak to our Specification Support team who will be able to provide the extra advisory service to bring more clarity to the Stage 4 specification process.