Fire Risk in Houses
Where any building contains both domestic uses and non-domestic uses, the
appropriate parts from each Technical Handbook will need to be used to
ensure the standards are complied in full, for example a caretakers flat in an
office building. However communal rooms or other areas in a block of
dwellings that are exclusively associated with the dwellings should be
considered using the domestic guidance. Examples of this might be a room
used as an office for the operation of sheltered housing complex or a lounge
communal to a block of dwellings. It is also a general principle that where a
building or part of a building might be seen as falling into more than one
category it should be designed to meet the most stringent recommendations.
Latest changes
The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 replaced the Building (Scotland) Act 1959
and these Technical Handbooks replace the Technical Standards to the
Building (Scotland) Regulations 1990 as amended (6th Amendment 2002).
The form and status of this guidance is very different from the previous
Technical Standards. Before it was only possible to satisfy the Regulations
by compliance with Technical Standards. This meant they were mandatory
rather than guidance.
Although this Technical Handbook has a very different status from the
Technical Standards the technical recommendations are very similar and this
handbook has been prepared as an almost level transposition from the
previous Technical Standards. There has been significant updating of
detailed issues and the introduction of additional advice and explanation, but
there has been relatively little change in the technical specifications. Where
significant change has occurred this is recorded in the introductions to the six
sections.