Planet friendly architecture, guidance and inspiration​
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Taking the fuss out of architecture and building projects

How a 1666 disaster shaped modern building standards and the cities we live in

Apparently, there are records of building laws dating back about 3000 years ago in Babylon [The Code of Hammurabi] that states that ‘If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its construction firm, and the house which he has built collapse and cause the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death’.

That’s probably a bit of a harsh punishment by modern civilisation’s standards, but it clearly recognises the severity of what can happen when buildings are not regulated or built properly.

This month, I’ll be demystifying The Building Regulations and explaining why these bits of legislation are here to help you, your family, your customers and your workforce, to stay safe and to stay healthy.

Founded in fire. How to use the Building Regulations as your survival guide

A brief history of the UK Building Regulations

Mainly sparked by catastrophic events like the Great Fire of London and public health issues the UK building regulations have evolved from basic fire-prevention rules in 17th-century London into a comprehensive, nationwide framework. The system was modernised significantly in the 20th century to prioritize other elements of safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency.

Key milestones are:

• 1666 - The Great Fire of London > led to The Rebuilding of London Act 1666. This mandated the use of brick and stone instead of timber, to reduce combustibility issues, and ensuring the streets were wide enough to prevent fire passing from one building to the next. This probably laid the first formal foundation of construction standards.
• 1774 > The London Building Acts of 1772 and 1774. This increased the scope beyond fire safety to include structural load-bearing walls, foundations, party [shared] walls, timber joists and beams, roof coverings, rainwater gutters and downpipes.

• 1875 > The Public Health Act 1875. This introduced countrywide legislation to provide upgraded minimum requirements for fire protection, structural stability, drainage / sanitation, prevention of damp, adequate daylight and ventilation.
• 1965 > The Building Regulations 1965. Until this point, the building rules were handled by fragmented local byelaws but this introduced the first unified, prescriptive national standards across most of England and Wales. However, these Regulations didn’t apply to the Inner London Boroughs, so they weren’t fully nationalised at this time.
• 1984 - 1985 > The Building Act 1984 + The Building Regulations 1985. This modernised the system further by shifting from rigid prescriptive rules to functional, performance-based standards, supported by guidance in The Approved Documents, which provide guidance on how these standards could be achieved. Read on to find out about how to use The Approved Documents below.
• 2010 > The Building Regulations 2010. Further updates with arguably a lot of focus on sustainability and energy conservation. The Building Regulations were regularly updated to enforce improved energy performance to meet UK carbon-reduction targets.
• 2022 > The Building Safety Act 2022. The Grenfell Tower fire tragedy has driven a monumental overhaul of both building safety and culture in the construction industry. This led to the Building Safety Act 2022 which also introduced further amendments to the Building Regulations in 2023. The main changes to The Regs relate to classification of Dutyholders [responsible parties] for building work, their respective duties, responsibilities and ensuring they are competent. Additional duties also apply to ‘higher risk buildings.’ Read on to find out a little bit more about ‘higher risk buildings.’

That was a brief historical timeline, however, if you want to read a more in-depth historical timeline, please scroll right down to the bottom of this email for more information. Go on, you know you want to !

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The Regs are here to help > not here to hinder

As can be seen from the historical development, these bits of legislation are here to help society and all people of our country, regardless of stature, wealth and position. The intention is to make all buildings safe and healthy for the people that occupy and use them. They are not here to make your life difficult. They have come about over many hundreds of years, often too late it could be argued, as it’s only usually after a tragic accident when people have been seriously injured or died, that regulations are put in place and / or updated.

Minimum standards > aiming too low?

The Building Regulations are the bare minimum, starting point to build from, not the final end point.

Ideally, if you have the budget then exceeding the Building Regulations is a desired approach as the building will perform even better.

An example could be to increase the thermal performance of a building past the bare minimum specified by The Regs. This means the building will use less energy and create less operational CO₂. This helps the environment but I do recognise that this sort of thing will cost more money in building costs. I often discuss this with Clients and sometimes agree a percentage increase above the minimum Building Regulations, such as improving energy efficiency by 10% above the minimum Regs.

Another example could be to improve fire safety, such as adding in an extra fire escape staircase or making the distance to get to a place of safety shorter than that required by The Regs, as this should help create a slightly safter building. Again, this is likely to cost more money in building costs.

Who does what and who is responsible?

The Dutyholders as set out in The Building Regulations are the main parties responsible for ensuring the building is designed and built correctly, in accordance with The Regs.

The different Dutyholders and a brief summary of their responsibilities are:

• Clients - both domestic and commercial. Responsibilities include allocating enough time and resources for the building work to comply with The Building Regulations + establishing, reviewing, and maintaining systems to meet The Regs + co-operating and enabling co-operation with others working on the project so they can comply with their respective duties + provision of information. Please note that Domestic Client duties are often transferred automatically to other Dutyholders as it is recognised Domestic Clients may not have the experience and expertise required to comply with their duties.
• Principal Designer - overall responsibility to plan, manage, monitor and co-ordinate matters related to the design work + assess design work to make sure all designers produce designs that comply with relevant Building Regulations.
• Designers - lots of different types, architectural, engineers, surveyors, specialists, etc. must take all reasonable steps to make sure the design work carried out by them, or other designers you manage, is planned, managed and monitored.
• Principal Contractor - overall responsibility to plan, manage, monitor and co-ordinate matters related to the building work + assess building work to make sure it complies with relevant Building Regulations + never accept non-compliant building work.
• Contractors - must take all reasonable steps to make sure the building work carried out by them, or other contractors they manage, is planned, managed and monitored + provide each worker they are responsible for with appropriate supervision, instructions and information + provide sufficient information about the building work to assist the Client, other contractors and designers to comply with relevant requirements.
• Further information – to find out more about the different Dutyholders, their responsibilities and how to make design and building work meet the building requirements check out the link below to the official government website.
• ​https://www.gov.uk/guidance/design-and-building-work-meeting-building-requirements​

I usually take on the role of Principal Designer in parallel as a Designer. As can be seen, my responsibilities and work needed to be done is not just designing and drawing, it also involves checking and co-ordinating the work of other people. This takes up more time to complete properly.

What about Building Control, both local authority and private companies, what do they do?

The role of Building Control is primarily about ensuring building work complies with the minimum standards under The Regs, the health and safety of persons in and around buildings, energy efficiency and accessibility.

They check designs and plans before building work starts, conduct on-site inspections, and issue formal Completion Certificates that are needed as evidence to sell your property and also insure your property.

Historically, Building Control services were only able to be provided by Local Authorities but The Building Act 1984 changed that as it provided a more flexible framework for compliance. ‘Approved Inspectors’ were introduced who were private companies able to provide the same services as Local Authority Building Control. Building Control was essentially part privatised and competition introduced. This was meant to create a better Building Control service all round, separated from local and central government.

Unfortunately, The Grenfell Tragedy, The Hackitt Review and the public enquiry identified big failures in the building control and construction oversight process. This led to a monumental overhaul of building safety and regulations, described above. Part of this overhaul was the introduction of The Building [Registered Building Control Approvers etc.] [England] Regulations 2024. This restructured private building control by replacing the former ‘Approved Inspector’ system with a regulated regime of Registered Building Control Approvers [RBCA’s].

You can still choose to either employ the Local Authority or a private Registered Building Control Approver to provide Building Control services. I think NHBC were one of the first ‘Approved Inspectors’ established in 1985, they are currently going strong and are currently the largest Registered Building Control Approver.​

It’s worth noting that the local authority has a general duty to enforce the Building Regulations in its area. RBCA’s don’t have the power of enforcement action. Enforcement action is only needed in extreme circumstances where Building Control consider the work checked on site does not comply with The Regs. If this is case, a procedure needs to be followed and can mean legal action against the Dutyholder, which could mean delays and extra expense during construction.

However, something I struggle with is the concept that Building Control are not a Dutyholder and seem to be notoriously difficult to be held accountable for their actions and decisions. For example, if Building Control requested changes to the design or building work on site to make the building work comply more fully with The Building Regulations [in their opinion] this sounds like they are taking on more of a design role. In the future, if there is a defect or failure of part of the building, especially the part asked to be modified by Building Control, you would have thought they are responsible in part for guiding this decision. Apparently, this is not the case and it’s only the Dutyholders described above who are the responsible parties. It seems Building Control only provide guidance on non-compliance and they are not liable for their guiding actions. If a Completion Certificate was issued for a building that was obviously non-compliant with The Regs and unsafe, I understand Building Control could be held accountable for this.

How to achieve Building Regulations compliance - The Approved Documents

The Building Regulations 1985 shifted from rigid prescriptive rules to functional, performance-based standards. This flexible approach sets out in legal terms what is adequate, reasonable or appropriate. This is supported by guidance in The Approved Documents, which provide guidance on how these standards could be achieved.

The Building Regulations Approved Documents are practical, government-issued guides that provide technical advice and acceptable solutions on how to comply with legal building standards. While you must comply with the Building Regulations by law, The Approved Documents are guidance only. You don’t have to follow them exactly, but doing so is often an easy way to prove to Building Control that your work complies with The Regs.

The Approved Documents contain:

• General guidance on the performance expected of materials and building work in order to comply with The Building Regulations
• Practical examples and solutions on how to achieve compliance for some of the more common building situations

Essentially, this means is that if the guidance in the relevant Approved Document is followed, that would be viewed as an approach that indicates that you have complied with The Building Regulations. Different construction methods and materials can therefore be used as long as the standards set out in The Regs are achieved.

The Approved Documents are split out into logical sections, that deal with the major elements of a building. These are listed below:

• Part A: Structure.
• Part B: Fire Safety - B1 Dwellings and B2 Buildings other than dwellings.
• Part C: Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture.
• Part D: Toxic substances.
• Part E: Resistance to sound [acoustics].
• Part F: Ventilation - F1 Dwellings and F2 Buildings other than dwellings.
• Part G: Sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency.
• Part H: Drainage and waste disposal.
• Part J: Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems.
• Part K: Protection from falling, collision and impact.
• Part L: Conservation of fuel and power - L1 Dwellings and L2 Buildings other than dwellings.
• Part M: Access to and use of buildings.
• Part O: Overheating.
• Part P: Electrical safety, dwellings
• Part Q: Security in dwellings.
• Part R: Infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks.
• Part S: Infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.
• Part T: Toilet accommodation.
• Approved Document 7: Material and workmanship.

​You can download each Approved Document from the government website by clicking here.​

The two-stage process to obtain Building Regulations approval

Split into two main stages.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Keep your Completion Certificate safe

Building Notice

A Full Plans application isn’t always needed, though. For very small, straightforward domestic work you can navigate around the pre-approval process by using a Building Notice.

A Building Notice is a simplified, fast-track application submitted to local authority Building Control to notify them of intended, straightforward domestic building work. It allows work to begin just 48 hours after submission of the notice application forms without requiring detailed, pre-approved architectural drawings and structural design information etc., making it ideal for small, simple projects.

The Grenfell Tower Fire Tragedy 2017 - what went wrong

When I first heard about the Grenfell tragedy the morning after the event, I was heavily shocked and so dismayed. I knew all about the history of the Building Regulations and how the UK were meant to be leading the way internationally. Clearly, that was a false impression. As an industry, we should have known better, we should have done better. I found this quite upsetting and it should have been avoided.

The final report of the public inquiry [that took six years to complete] concluded that the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in 2017 was the result of a series of failures by different governments, dishonest companies and an absence of strategy by the fire service. There was a combination of failings and errors by many different people and organisations, there was no single contributor.

Some of the key findings of the report were:

• Systematic dishonesty by the manufacturers of cladding and insulation.
• The manufacturer of the cladding which experts at the inquiry said was "by far the largest contributor" to the fire, deliberately concealed the danger of using their product.
• Other manufacturers made "false and misleading claims" over the safety and suitability of the insulation they manufactured that was installed on Grenfell.
• Failures in London Fire Brigade's training and a lack of a coherent strategy to evacuate the building.
• Successive governments missed opportunities to act.
• The local council and the Tenant Management Organisation had a "persistent indifference to fire safety, particularly the safety of vulnerable people."
• How building safety is managed in England and Wales is seriously defective.

In my opinion, The Building Regulations seemed to have been too relaxed and not policed enough at that time. The shift in the 1980’s that moved from rigid prescriptive rules to functional, performance-based standards, supported by guidance in The Approved Documents, may have gone too far. There were sometimes easy theoretical ways to achieve compliance, without real world testing, no real accountability, lots of misinterpretation about how to comply with The Regs and misunderstanding about who was responsible for what.

From experience, and observation, it sometimes seems to be a case of, ‘What can I get away with?’ It sometimes seems to be about interpretation of The Regs and how they are applied, so they affect my project the least and therefore costs less money to build. In my opinion that is a fundamental error as the Regulations are there for a purpose, primarily to protect and safeguard people’s health and safety. If this is ignored, and profit and cost come first, then the health and safety of people is compromised. As already mentioned, The Building Regulations are the bare minimum, starting point to build from, not the final end point.

There has definitely been an industry wide wakeup call and a shock to the system, to change the old culture from the last few decades. I sometimes wonder if the rapid building needed after the destruction caused by the Second World War in the latter part of the twentieth century may have had some part to play in the culture of the construction industry a few years ago. Of building things quickly and cheaply, possibly cutting corners, with reduced policing by the authorities. I have no evidence to back up this theory; it’s mere speculation from me at the moment but I do wonder if this affected things.

I think things are slowly changing, and quite rightly so. The Hackitt Review certainly pointed out some painful truths about the culture and that a big change was needed.

Building Safety Act 2022

The Grenfell Tower fire tragedy has driven a monumental overhaul of both building safety and culture in the construction industry. This led to the Building Safety Act 2022 which another piece of legislation and provides a framework intended to enhance the safety of buildings, especially high-rise and multi-occupancy residential buildings.

This transformational piece of legislation introduced further amendments to the Building Regulations in 2023. The main changes to The Regs relate to classification of Dutyholders [responsible parties] for building work, their respective duties, responsibilities and ensuring they are competent. This is already covered above.

Additional duties also apply to ‘higher risk buildings.’

A ‘higher risk building’ is a building that is at least 18m in height or has at least seven storeys and contain at least two residential units. This has also led to the creation of the Building Safety Regulator to ensure stringent checks and approvals at milestone stages and clearer accountability for higher risk buildings. The Building Safety Regulator [BSR] is the independent UK government body responsible for regulating and overseeing the safety and compliance of higher risk buildings and enforcing The Building Regulations for higher risk buildings in England and Wales.

Another crucial aim of the BSA 2022 was to accurately record all fire safety information and processes throughout a building’s lifecycle via the ‘Golden Thread of Information,’ ensuring total transparency and accessibility. Additionally, to give powers to enforcement authorities to take decisive action against any non-compliant persons and organisations involved in the process.

Key issues for today since The Building Safety Act 2022 and updates to The Building Regulations

There isn’t a one size fits all approach for The Building Regulations, each building, existing or new build, and each set of circumstances are different. There is a level of flexibility and as long as a reasonable approach can be demonstrated that shows compliance this is usually acceptable, within reason though.

Arguably, there is industry confusion about how to interpret and apply the updated Building Regulations, especially when Principal Designers are only employed for part of a project, not the entire project, from design to construction completion.

As can be seen, achieving Building Regulations compliance and having a good understanding of how to navigate The Regs is getting harder and more time consuming. This is something I’ve always done and can help out with on projects. Such as making applications, handling feedback and updates and the co-ordination of specialists [like Structural Engineers]. This is often a major item of complexity for my Clients, who are worried about the technical complexity of the Building Regulations, and how to ensure compliance. Professionally qualified and competent, I’m able to provide you with complete peace of mind that this is all looked after.

Exemptions - The Building Regulations do not apply to all types of buildings or building work

Believe it or not, there are actually a few buildings that The Building Regulations do not apply to. These are summarised in the table below, taken from The Manual to the Building Regulations. This manual helps provide guidance on how The Regs work in practice and how to fulfil the requirements of The Regs.

Some other buildings are also exempt, fully or in part, as long as specific criteria are met, such as:

• Crown buildings, such as, central government offices and courts of law.
• A building that belongs to a statutory undertaker [such as a utility company, a telecoms company and Network Rail], the Civil Aviation Authority or an airport operator.
• The Metropolitan Police Authority.

A couple of projects I’ve worked on recently that were exempt are an underground lithium battery bunker [essentially a plant room] and a barn conversion, changing from agricultural use into stables for equestrian use.

​Click here to download The Manual to the Building Regulations.​

The comeback of timber + other bio-based materials in eco-friendly building + the regulatory tension

There is a bit of a crazy tension in The Building Regulations right now.

On one hand, there is a big, urgent push to reduce carbon and energy during manufacture, construction and in operation etc. There is a drive to promote and use bio-based materials as these are usually more environmentally friendly and they can certainly help improve the current [and future] state of the planet and climate change. This often means that organic materials like timber, straw, hemp, cellulose, thatch and cob are often specified, with a desire to reduce the impact on the planet. It almost seems like we have gone full circle in the 360 years since The Great Fire of London. Timber-based materials are once again being heavily used for building. It’s interesting to note that several European countries have started to regulate whole-life carbon emissions. France in particular has mandated that all public buildings must use 50% or more bio-based materials.

On the other hand, there needs to be strict enforcement of health and safety for the people in and around these buildings, in this context, to prevent fire and moisture damage. There is a mandatory requirement to ensure that building work has adequate fire safety protection and that the materials and systems used do not become damp and deteriorate. This often means carbon heavy masonry, concrete and cement-based products are used to address these issues by replacing bio-based materials entirely or adding extra carbon heavy materials to provide extra protection, which kind of defeats the object in a way.

There are also other hurdles to overcome, that go past The Regs, when using bio-based materials. Such as mortgages, finance and insurance. The organisations who offer these financial and compensatory services have their own set of preferred materials and systems of build, often based on historical risk profiles. Mortgages, finance or insurance may not be available to buildings constructed from bio-based materials. However, I understand these organisations, who were historically quite difficult to please are softening their approach with a desire to address real world issues of carbon and energy in the construction industry.

There are contradictions.

At the moment this tension remains unresolved. What are we to do? How do we get the balance right?

I don’t think there is an easy solution to this tension and contradiction, there is no easy fix that satisfies both the sustainable agenda and the safe and robust agenda, at the same time.

In my opinion, the regulations do control how buildings are positioned, what materials are used and how they are used. This doesn’t mean that bio-based materials should be eliminated from a building entirely. I think it involves thoughtful consideration and a mix of robust eco unfriendly materials in certain areas with slightly less robust bio-based materials in other areas.

If possible [which I think it is], it’s about improving sustainability as much as possible by using bio-based materials, while using other less sustainable building materials as sparingly as possible, without compromising performance requirements.

Here’s an example of The Building Regulations doing exactly what they were designed to do

A while ago we helped design a new build home in the Derbyshire countryside, quite an interesting project, it used ICF or Insulated Concrete Formwork. ICF is a relatively new system of construction, established in Germany in the 1940’s. The ICF system on this project uses giant hollow ‘Lego’ blocks made from recycled wood fibre with a thick layer of insulation bonded to one side. These hollow blocks are lightweight and stacked on top of each other to make up the main walls. These hollow blocks are then filled with concrete, to form a very strong, energy efficient building shell.

On one façade of the house, it was proposed to have several windows and an external door and this side of the building was relatively close to a boundary. Under The Building Regulations buildings must resist fire spread from one building to another. This goes all the way back to 1666 and The Great Fire of London.

There are strict rules on the combustibility of the walls and materials which are classified ‘protected areas.’ There are also limitations on the permitted area of windows and doors that are essentially ‘unprotected areas.’ Unless the unprotected doors and windows are made from a special fire rated construction [so they are protected] then they are weak spots and fire can easily break out and then spread to another building nearby.

During the Stage 1 design checking stage Building Control did indeed check things properly and pointed out the original design didn’t comply as there was too much unprotected glazed areas.

Special measurements and calculations were completed and then the design was altered slightly to reduce the amount of unprotected glazing on this façade. A few windows were made smaller; two wider windows were changed to a single 5 sash window and another window moved slightly. The structural design also had to be updated to suit. The updated designs then complied with The Building Regulations with a reduced fire risk.

On this particular site there was no building on the boundary line, it was an empty field, but this isn’t the point. In the future the field could be built on and a new building, built tight on the boundary line. It’s also about protecting against worst case future scenarios, not just current circumstances.

This is a good example of some of the invisible design work that takes place in the background to ensure the buildings I work on are kept safe for my Clients, their families and future building owners.

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If you are interested in looking at materials with low environmental impact + are safe to use for your project, then…

New places

If you are new to my newsletter then each month, I share a photo of somewhere I've been. Just sharing something about my love of buildings and nature. I also love travelling to new places and cultures. Whenever I go on holiday, I try to take a few photos of buildings and places I find fascinating and interesting. I’m by no means a professional photographer but I’d like to share some of these places with you, hopefully they capture something of what I experienced.

Last month’s photo was of Maligne Lake in the Canadian Rockies. Special mention to Nicholas in Sheffield for deducing the location of this photo, with surprising pinpoint accuracy. Well done!

So, what do you think this is a photo of and where was this photo taken? If you think you know where the photo was taken or like the photo and want to find out more, hit reply and let me know.

You’ll have to wait until the next newsletter to find out where this photo is from. I know, you are super excited to find out more.

What's next

Next time we will look at breathable [vapour open] constructions. What does breathable or vapour open even mean? Tips and advice on how best to design and deal with breathable constructions properly to avoid unintended consequences like damp and mould. Keep an eye out to find out more.

That’s it for now folks. If you made it this far you must clearly be a building nerd like me or perhaps just super interested? I hope you enjoyed this newsletter and I look forward to sharing more with you soon, probably a shorter edition next month!

By the way, in case you are wondering, you’ve been sent this email because we’ve spoken in the past, perhaps discussing your project, or you have asked me a question via the website, social media or we have met in real life. I do hope you found this email helpful, entertaining and inspiring. However, if this is not the case, please hit unsubscribe at the bottom. I’ll try not to be offended, although I probably will be a little bit! I know, I know, it’s me, not you [it usually is].

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In depth information on the different historical timelines of The Building Regulations

I originally wrote this for the main Newsletter above and as you can see, I got a bit carried away with the wordcount! I recognise that not many people are probably as interested in The Building Regulations as I am so I tried to summarise this as best I could for the main Newsletter bit above. I thought it would be a shame to waste this content though, so here it is. If you read this far you clearly have a lot of time on your hands - I hope this is interesting for you!

Further in-depth information follows on the major legislative updates. Please note, not all pieces of legislation are described here, just the major milestones and updates. There are probably enough building legislation updates to fill a hefty book.

1419 - Liber Albus

In the UK the first records of building laws probably date back to 1419 when the first book of English Common Law was published, called Liber Albus [Latin for ‘White Book’], written by John Carpenter. However, even before the publication of the Liber Albus there were serious fires in London, in 1212, that led to thatched roofs being outlawed.

This Liber Albus, and the laws written inside, only applied to the City of London though, and were not a national set of laws. Council officials were employed to watch, manage and enforce any contraventions. A loose form of Building Control had started to emerge, but only in London.

1666 - The Great Fire of London

Then in 1666 The Great Fire of London occurred that devastated huge parts of London. During that period, towns and cities were characterised by relatively tall, timber framed buildings, with upper floors projecting out above the floors below, [this technique is called ‘jettying’]. This meant the upper floors were overhanging, and a lot closer than at street level below. As you know, timber burns, and the distances between each property at the upper floors had got so close that flames could easily spread from one building to the next.

Soon after The Great Fire of London, The Rebuilding of London Act 1666 then came into force [passed in 1667]. This was regulatory. This was statutory legislation. This was the law. The Rebuilding of London Act contained specific prescriptive details about what could and couldn’t be built. Building types were also categorised out into four use classes. The 1666 Act is online and still available to read, quite fascinating if you have the time, click here to read it.​

‘And in reguard the building with Bricke is not onely more comely and durable but alsoe more safe against future perills of Fire Be it further enacted by and with the Authoritie aforesaid That all the outsides of all Buildings in and about the said Citty be henceforth made of Bricke or Stone or of Bricke and Stone together except Doore cases and Window Frames…’

Extract from the 1667 Act, part V. Buildings to be of Brick, &c.

Fireproof materials had to be used to build the external parts of buildings + maximum heights were stipulated + wall thicknesses were also prescribed, based on brick sizes.

Four years later the Rebuilding of London Act 1670 came into force, which was essentially an update to the 1666 Act. This included requirements for gutters and downpipes and rainwater control + the inspections of certain parts of a building before being covered over, such as foundations.

1774 > The London Building Acts of 1772 and 1774.

The next major update took over 100 years to come through; this was through The London Building Act of 1772 and The Fires Prevention [Metropolis] Act 1774 [also known as The London Building Act of 1774]. The Act of 1774 was a more significant update. The 1774 Act is also online and still available to read, click here to read it.​

‘An Act for the more effectually preventing Mischiefs by fire within the Cities of London and Westminster and the Liberties thereof, and other the Parishes, Precincts, and Places within the Weekly Bills of Mortality, the Parishes of Saint Mary-le-bon, Paddington, Saint Pancras and Saint Luke at Chelsea, in the county of Middlesex.’

Extract of the introductory text from the 1774 Act

This increased the scope beyond fire safety to include structural load-bearing walls, foundations, party [shared] walls, timber joists and beams, roof coverings, rainwater gutters and downpipes. Party wall requirements were updated with higher performance standards. The four building types were replaced with seven use classes, defined by the value of the property and its total floor area. The quality and construction of buildings were standardised and the exterior of buildings made as fireproof as possible. The use of combustible materials for exterior timber ornamentation were restricted, except for door frames and shop fronts. Door and window frames had to be recessed in from the face of the building by at least 4 inches / 100mm. A new statutory job role was created; District Surveyors were appointed to supervise the implementation of the Building Laws.

1875 > The Public Health Act 1875.

Overcrowded slum housing and epidemic disease had now become more of a risk to the health of the population. This lead to The Public Health Act 1875. This introduced countrywide legislation to provide upgraded minimum requirements for fire protection, structural stability, drainage / sanitation, prevention of damp, adequate daylight and ventilation. The 1875 Act also specified minimum widths of streets, minimum separation distances between buildings and minimum rear open spaces / gardens to improve the natural free circulation of air.

Individual rooms had specific requirements for at least one window, intended to provide natural ventilation and daylight. There was also a requirement for minimum ceiling heights. And restrictions on using basements or cellars as habitable rooms. Fire protection and structural measures continued to be updated and further restrictions on how timber was used in building. Where a building was less than 15 ft / 4.5m away from another building, a parapet wall [this is a wall that sticks up past the roof below] was required to be built taken a minimum 1 ft / 300mm above the point at which the roof joined the wall.

Damp proof courses and cavity walls were also introduced, including restrictions on cavity widths and wall ties. ‘Jettying’ or where upper floors project out above the floors below was also banned. Buildings over 80 ft / 24m tall also needed approval before construction started.

1909 > The Housing and Town Planning Act 1909

The technical performance rules and regulations of previous centuries had improved the quality of individual buildings but did not really address wider issues resulting from the rapid and disordered urbanisation of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This landmark piece of UK legislation was intended to improve public health and regulate urban expansion. It is widely recognised as the beginning of modern statutory town planning. This piece of legislation had several provisions, such as:

• Back-to-back housing was banned. The construction of cramped, unhygienic back-to-back terraced houses was now illegal.
• Development density was regulated. Legal limits were put in place to restrict the number of houses built per acre of land.
• Town planning schemes were mandated. Local authorities were given powers to design and enforce structured development plans.
• Improved public health oversight. County Medical Officers of Health and dedicated Public Health and Housing Committees were established in county councils.

While this piece of legislation is not really directly related to the Building Regulations history it’s worth noting as there is often a bit of overlap and tension between the Building Regulations and Town Planning policy. This tension continues to this day with different interpretations of what piece of legislation is more important at any given time.

Town Planning legislation has continued to be updated as well, and while I won’t describe these here, the latest iteration is currently the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

1965 > The Building Regulations 1965.

The Building [Scotland] Act in 1959 gave the secretary of state the power to create Building Regulations. The first ‘official’ Building Regulations were published in 1963 and came into force in 1964. England and Wales followed soon after in 1965, with formal operation in 1966.

Until this point, the building rules were handled by fragmented local byelaws but this introduced the first unified, prescriptive national standards across most of England and Wales. However, these Regulations did not apply to the Inner London Boroughs, so they weren’t fully nationalised at this time.

Various amendments and revisions to these Building Regulations were made, increasing the scope and subjects covered by The Building Regulations.

1984 - 1985 > The Building Act 1984 + The Building Regulations 1985.

The old prescriptive and slightly fragmented approach was continued until The Building Act 1984 finally consolidated The Building Regulations under a single piece of legislation. This resulted in the introduction of The Building Regulations 1985.​

The Building Act 1984 and The Building Regulations 1985 modernised the system further by shifting from rigid prescriptive rules to functional, performance-based standards. This flexible approach sets out in legal terms what is adequate, reasonable or appropriate. This is supported by guidance in The Approved Documents, which provide guidance on how these standards could be achieved.

Essentially, what this means is that if the guidance in the relevant approved document is followed, that would be viewed as an approach that indicates that you have complied with The Building Regulations. Different construction methods and materials could be used as long as the standards set out in the legislation were achieved. This is the approach to Building Regulations that is currently used.

Scroll back up to find out how to use The Approved Documents.

The Building Regulations were eventually applied to inner London from July 1987 and this finally completed the nationwide and uniform implementation of The Building Regulations system. This is also known as the Building Control system.

The 1984 Act also highlighted the desirability of preserving the character of protected buildings that are of special historical or architectural interest. The 1984 Act also introduced competition into Building Control, by creating private company ‘Approved Building Inspectors’. This essentially removed sole Building Control powers from local authorities and possibly attempted to make Building Control partially privatised and self-funded, separated from local and central government.

2010 > The Building Regulations 2010.

These are the current Building Regulations in force at the time of writing [2026]. Numerous, periodical updates, have been completed, especially to The Approved Documents, since The Building Regulations 1985.

Further updates have been completed with arguably a lot of focus on sustainability, energy conservation, acoustics, moisture protection, accessibility, protection from falling and impact, electrics + loads more. The sustainability and energy conservation updates related to improved energy performance to meet UK carbon-reduction targets.

2022 > The Building Safety Act 2022.

The Grenfell Tower fire tragedy has driven a monumental overhaul of both building safety and culture in the construction industry. This led to the Building Safety Act 2022 which is another piece of legislation and provides a framework intended to enhance the safety of buildings, especially high-rise and multi-occupancy residential buildings.

The BSA 2022 also introduced further amendments to the Building Regulations in 2023. The main changes to The Regs relate to classification of Dutyholders [responsible parties] for building work, their respective duties, responsibilities and ensuring they are competent.

Additional duties also apply to ‘higher risk buildings.’

A ‘higher risk building’ is a building that is at least 18m in height or has at least seven storeys and contains at least two residential units. This has also led to the creation of the Building Safety Regulator to ensure stringent checks and approvals at milestone stages and clearer accountability for higher risk buildings. The Building Safety Regulator [BSR] is the independent UK government body responsible for regulating and overseeing the safety and compliance of higher risk buildings and enforcing The Building Regulations for higher risk buildings in England and Wales.

Another crucial aim of the BSA 2022 was to accurately record all fire safety information and processes throughout a building’s lifecycle via the ‘Golden Thread of Information,’ ensuring total transparency and accessibility. Additionally, to give powers to enforcement authorities to take decisive action against any non-compliant persons and organisations involved in the process.

The end for now, phew !

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