Building Regulations (Hansard, 30 January 1992)

§ Mr. Yeo

The Building Regulations 1991, which will come into effect on 1 June 1992, impose requirements on certain building operations including the making of a "material change of use", as defined in regulation 5. Regulation 6 sets out those requirements of schedule 1 to the regulations which must be satisfied where there is a material change of use, and provides that such work must be carried out as is necessary to ensure that the building, or that part of it where the material change of use is being made, complies with those requirements. The table sets out what those requirements are for each particular case of change of use.

It is quite possible that changes in the internal layout of a building may adversely affect the building in relation to compliance with one of the relevant requirements, for example paragraph B1—means of escape. In such cases the change will be regarded as "material" for the purposes of the Building Regulations, and the building owner will be required to ensure that the work complies with the regulations and that the building as a whole is not made more unsatisfactory.

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The contents of a building are not normally of any relevance to the Building Regulations, although they may of course indicate the use to which a building is being put. It is possible that, in certain circumstances, a change in the

Buildings regulations requirements which must be satisfied where there is a material change of use
Change of use	All cases of material change of use	All cases where building is over 15m in height¹	Change of use to a hotel or boarding house, institution, or public building, or where the building was previously exempt	Change of use to a dwelling	Creation of a flat
Requirement(s) of Schedule 1 that the buildings (or part¹) should comply with	B1 (Means of escape)	B4(1) (External fire spread—walls)	A (Structure)	C4 (Resistance to weather and ground moisture)	E (Resistance to the passage of sound)
	B2 (Internal fire spread—linings)			E (Resistance to the passage of sound)
	B3 (Internal fire spread—structure)
	B4(2) (External fire spread—roofs)
	B5 (Access and facilities for the fire service)
	F (Ventilation)
	G1 (Sanitary conveniences and washing facilities)
	G2 (Bathrooms)
	H4 (Solid waste storage)
	J (Heat producing appliances)
¹ Regulation 6(2)(c) provides that even where the change of use of being made to part only of a building exceeding 15m in height, the whole building must comply with requirement B4(1).