Question reference: S6W-02980
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 14 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 September 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scotland’s high-rise threshold being reduced from over 18m to over 11m in 2018, for what reason option 3 in its consultation, Building standards (fire safety) - external wall systems, considers introducing a ban on combustible cladding and insulation on the external façades of certain residential and high-risk buildings using the previous 18m-plus threshold.
Answer
England introduced a ban on combustible materials used in the construction of external walls for all new residential buildings over 18m in December 2018. The 11m threshold introduced from 1 October 2019 is contained in regulatory guidance, with the alternative route of a large scale fire test being retained on the advice of the fire safety review panel. Since that time a number of stakeholders have made clear their views that the Scottish regulations should align with those in the rest of the UK, and we have therefore sought to include this as an option within the consultation.