§ Kate HoeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will introduce measures to limit the generation of toxic smoke and fumes from building products. [39296]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Building Regulations 1991 are intended to secure the health and safety of people in and around buildings, and paragraph B of Schedule 1 to the Regulations makes functional requirements to cover fire safety. Guidance on how these requirements may be met are given in Approved Document B, and, as far as materials used in construction are concerned, performance standards are set based on recognised test methods.
With regard to the generation of toxic smoke and fumes from building products, there is no recognised method of test as yet that provides a practicable performance standard that would be satisfactory for regulatory purposes. Although the Single Burning Item test being developed in support of the Construction Products Directive does address smoke production, it does not consider toxicity.