In this update, we will consider sustainability, fire, the Building Safety Act and CWCT courses.
Sustainability
As always, we are busy working to provide sustainability guidance for the façade industry.
EPD guidance
Late last year, we published comprehensive guidance on Environmental Performance Declarations (EPDs) for façade products. This work builds on an existing short guidance document that we published a couple of years ago.
EPDs appear straightforward, but as with many areas of sustainability, this is a complex topic. EPDs provide vital data for embodied carbon calculations and therefore it is important to understand how the results have been obtained, the assumptions that have been made, what they cover, and the limitations involved. This document aims to provide much needed clarity in this area.
My thanks to all involved in the workstream for their commitment and dedication to this work. The support we have received on this has been fantastic.
For further information, please click here.
Sustainability workstreams
Work is progressing on all our remaining Workstreams, including guidance on Refurbishment and Circularity.
Work is also underway on updating the CWCT Embodied Carbon Methodology following the publication of new RICS guidance last year.
Fire
As reported last time, we have published the first two Technical Notes in our new series on the fire performance of façades. TN113 provides an introduction and overview of the fire regulations and TN114 goes into detail about the various reaction to fire recommendations. We recently held a webinar to introduce this guidance, which can be viewed here.
Work on the remaining two Technical Notes is underway. TN115 will cover curtain walling, and amongst other areas, will provide detailed guidance on fire stopping. TN116 will cover built-up walls and include guidance on the use of open state cavity barriers and BS8414 testing.
Gateway 2
The introduction of the new ‘Gateway’ process as part of the Building Safety Act has resulted in significant concerns in the façade industry. This was discussed at our recent AGM. Whilst there is generally agreement with what the Gateways are trying to achieve, there is uncertainty about the information that is required as part of an application to the Building Safety Regulator, and it is understood that many applications are being subsequently rejected.
In order to try and provide guidance related to the façade, we are collaborating with the SFE. Initially we are gathering façade-specific details on why Gateway 2 applications have been unsuccessful, please see here. This can act as a checklist to help ensure future Gateway 2 applications contain the relevant information.
We plan to update this list as more information is provided, so please continue to share reasons for rejection with us. Once we have more information, we aim to provide further guidance on ‘what good looks like’ in relation to Gateway 2 façade submissions.
We cannot do this without your input, so please provide feedback here
Courses
Our course programme for 2025 is available to view on our website and will be open for bookings soon.