ROOFING SYSTEMS
Steps to ensure compliant flat roofing explained
Tim Gardner, North London Regional manager at Langley Waterproofing Systems, looks at the Building Regulations with regard to fire safety, how they apply to flat roof installations, and the factors that decision-makers in healthcare estates and healthcare engineering teams should consider before selecting a flat roof asset management partner.
Following the publication of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, the Government published its draft ‘Building Safety Bill’ last July, incorporating elements of the review led by Dame Judith Hackitt. The new regulations focus on improving building safety standards, and, among a wide array of changes, introduce stronger measures to identify and address non-compliance. “The Bill will introduce a new era of accountability, making it clear where the responsibility for managing safety risks lies throughout the design, construction and occupation of buildings in scope,” explained the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
To highlight the importance of fire safety for healthcare estates, over a 12-month period in 2018-2019, fire and rescue services attended 636 fire incidents at hospitals and medical care facilities throughout England alone, of which 437 were accidental. Flat roofs, though often deemed ‘out-of-sight’ assets, form a key part of the exterior envelope of a building, and their condition and specification have a significant impact on the overall health and safety of patients, staff, and visitors. It is therefore essential that a compliant flat roof system has been specified in line with the Building Regulations, helping to reduce the risk of external fire ignition and spread.
Importance of asset data It is recommended that healthcare facilities engage with a specialist roofing supplier in an asset management partnership. This not only ensures fire safety, but will help the organisation to manage its flat roof assets in the most cost-effective and minimally disruptive way.
A flat roof asset management partner’s first step is to understand the condition of the healthcare estate’s flat roofs. A partner will carry out a roof condition survey, which will be able to confirm whether any urgent remedial works
Flat roofs, though often deemed ‘out-of-sight’ assets, form a key part of the exterior building envelope, and in healthcare facilities, their condition and specification have a significant impact on the overall health and safety of patients, staff, and visitors.
are necessary, or, conversely, that no immediate works are needed. Data will be compiled to support an asset management plan; this will ensure that a comprehensive programme is established where the roof estate is maintained and monitored. For roof areas that include potential fire safety risks and other concerns, these should be fully detailed and addressed as part of a flat roof refurbishment specification, with a system solution that is compliant with current Building Regulations.
Understanding the Regulations One of the key sources of guidance in England and Wales is Approved Document B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations, and in particular Section B4, which relates to roofcoverings. This section is concerned with the resistance to the spread of fire from an external source, prevention of the spread of fire to adjacent buildings via thermal radiation, and the resistance to flame spread over the roof and/or fire penetration from external sources.
This specifically relates to the risk of burning airborne material, or heat from a nearby fire, that could cause the roof to ignite, and then the fire to spread. To prevent this, Approved Document B outlines boundaries and minimum distances, and thereafter the required fire resistance of building materials, including roofcoverings, based on the distances between buildings.
When seeking to overlay or replace a flat roof area, healthcare estates decision- makers should ensure that they are selecting a flat roof asset management partner that provides the best possible level of fire safety via their system specification, design, service, and installation.
System testing and certification The fire resistance of a roofing material is determined using two criteria – the penetration of flame, and the spread of flame. The European test standards that are referenced in Approved Document B classify roof systems into five categories based on their performance – Broof,
July 2021 Health Estate Journal 69
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