Scotland

The Scottish Building Regulations underwent a fundamental change in 2004 following the introduction of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003. In 2005, the existing Technical Standards were withdrawn and replaced by two Technical Booklets covering domestic buildings and non-domestic buildings. (Note: at the time of writing, proposed changes to Approved Document B, due in its next edition in 2007, indicate that England and Wales may introduce a similar distinction.) Both handbooks are available on the Building Standards Agency Scottish website. 

The Technical Booklets give guidance on achieving the standards set out in the Building Regulations. The standards are in the form of expanded functional requirements, i.e. they describe the functions the buildings should perform, such as “providing resistance to the spread of fire.”

The regulations are mandatory, but the choice of how to comply lies with the building owner. The Technical Booklets have been issued for the purposes of providing practical guidance on this.

If the guidance is followed in full, it will be accepted that compliance with the Building Regulations has been achieved. Proof of compliance with the guidance may be relied on in any proceedings as tending to negate liability for any alleged contravention of the Building Regulations.

It is acceptable to use alternative methods of compliance provided that they fully satisfy the regulations. Where alternative solutions are put forward however, it is necessary to have regard to the details of the guidance. Where performance standards or policy statements are given, every part of the solution is expected to meet them.

Typical of the type of structure which has been designed using an alternative method, in this case a fire engineering approach, is the stands at Glasgow Celtic Football Club in Parkhead, shown below. 

The important aspects of the Technical Booklet concerning structural fire resistance are:

• Fire resistance requirements are based on a mixture of building height, occupancy, and floor area. Fire resistance is given as short, medium or long, equating to 30, 60 and 120 minutes.
• Structural elements of open deck height car parks less than 18m in height require only 15 minutes fire resistance. (The majority of universal steel sections have 15 minutes inherent fire resistance and thus most steel framed open deck car parks do not now require structural fire protection).