Fire Risk Assessment

This Technical Handbook gives guidance on achieving the standards set in
the Building (Scotland) Regulations. The standards themselves can be
found in Schedule 5 to Regulation 9, and are in the form of ‘expanded
functional standards’. That is, the standards describe the functions a
building should perform, such as ‘providing resistance to the spread of fire’,
and are an expanded and more detailed form of the previous building
standards regulations.

The Building (Scotland) Regulations made by the Scottish Ministers are
subject to approval by the Scottish Parliament. The content of the
regulations, so far as it relates to technical specifications, is also scrutinised
by the European Commission (EC). The EC checks with all the other
countries that have adopted the Construction Products Directive (CPD) to
ensure that no barriers to trade in construction products are created, either
directly or indirectly by the way products are described.

To meet the requirements of the CPD, materials and construction methods
must be described by use of suitable European Standards wherever these
exist. As there is a rolling programme of change to these National and
European Standards, which includes conversion to and the further provision
of ENs and harmonised ENs, the handbooks have been designed to be
readily updated. An explanation of the relevance and status of specific
European and British standards referred to in the handbooks is in the section
concerned. There is also a list of the publications referred to in the
handbooks provided in Appendix B.

The arrangement of the sections within handbooks relates directly to the
Essential Requirements of the CPD (as published by the EC), which
construction works are expected to satisfy when they have been properly
designed and built. The arrangement is as follows:
Section 1 Structure (EC - Mechanical resistance and stability)
Section 2 Fire (EC - Safety in case of fire)
Section 3 Environment (EC - Hygiene, health and the environment)
Section 4 Safety (EC - Safety in use)
Section 5 Noise (EC - Protection against noise)
Section 6 Energy (EC - Energy economy and heat retention).

0.1.3 The building standards system
The building regulations are enforced through the building standards system
also established by the Building (Scotland) Act 2003. This Act sets out the
enabling powers that allow the Scottish Ministers to make, not only the
building regulations, but also procedural regulations, fees regulations and the
other supporting legislation needed to operate the system. The system is
designed to ensure that new buildings and works achieve the objectives of
the Act in terms of health, safety, welfare, convenience, conservation of fuel
and power, and sustainable development.