Changes to Approved Document B following the Hackitt review

On 18 December 2018, following the announcement of the Implementation Plan for the Hackitt review recommendations (Building a safer future: an implementation plan), the government issued a number of other documents related to Approved Document B on the first anniversary of the publication of Dame Judith Hackitt’s interim report:

The government formally responded to the consultation on amendments to statutory guidance on assessments in lieu of tests in Approved Document B, and this response can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765700/Assessments_in_lieu_of_tests_-_government_response.pdf
In association with this response, the Government published an impact assessment in relation to amendments to statutory guidance on assessments in lieu of tests in Approved Document B, which can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765619/Assessments_in_lieu_of_tests_-_Impact_Assessment.pdf
The government published amendments to Approved Document B – volume 1 – dwelling houses:
The government updated volume 2, for buildings other than dwelling houses.

A circular and covering letter were also issued, drawing attention to the changes made to Approved Document B:

The new approved documents come into force on 30 August 2019.

However, in September 2019, both volumes of the approved documents were removed due to potential errors relating to the provision of dampers fitted to the vents of smoke shafts. In October the documents were corrected and reinstated.

On 27th November 2019, after a challenge to the consultation process that introduced the ban on combustible materials, the High Court ruled that the consultation had been inadequate in respect of the inclusion of products intended to reduce heat gain within a building (for example, blinds, shutters and awnings) within the ban. As a result the Court quashed one part of the 2018 regulations which had included within the ban ”a device for reducing heat gain within a building by deflecting sunlight which is attached to an external wall”. The practical effect of the Court judgment is that the regulations now exist as if that section of the regulations had never been included in the ban. Ref https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-amendment-regulations-2018-circular-032019