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Part K - Protection from falling, collision and impact

by John Boanson
NBS Technical Authoring Coordinator and Architect

Building Regulation Approved Document K refers to eight different British Standards. Five of these are obsolescent, replaced or withdrawn and superseded.

Cited British Standard		Current British Standard
Standard	Status	Current British Standard
BS 585-1:1989	Obsolescent
BS 4211:1987	Withdrawn and superseded	BS 4211:2005
BS 5395-1:1977	Withdrawn and superseded	BS 5395-1:2000
BS 5395-3:1985	Partially replaced	BS EN ISO 14122-1:2001 BS EN ISO 14122-2:2001 BS EN ISO 14122-3:2001
BS 6180:1995	Withdrawn and superseded	BS 6180:1995

One way of demonstrating compliance with the Regulations is to follow the guidance in the Approved Documents, i.e. design to out-dated standards. As stated in the Foreword to BS 5395-1:2000, ‘The revision reflects best architectural practice.’ Therefore complying with the Approved Document, and its outdated standards, results in designs that are not in accordance with ‘best architectural practice’. This problem is not unique to Approved Document K, indeed there are only Parts D, P and the Approved Document to support regulation 7, where all the quoted references are up to date. Neither is it unique to the British Standards, it also occurs with the referenced second tier documents.

In addition to the use of out-dated references, we should also look at the possible conflicting requirements of other Approved Documents and Standards. If we consider ramps:

Approved Document K	Approved Document M	BS 8300:2001
≤ 1:12, landings at the top and bottom of flights. (paragraphs 2.1 & 2.6)	≤ 1:15, landings at 10 m. ≤, landings at 5 m. (paragraph 6.15c)	≤ 1:20, landings at 10 m. ≤ 1:15, landings at 5 m. ≤ 1:12, landings at 2 m (table 1)

Whilst the notes to the Requirements to Part M states

‘Stairs and ramps: . . . The guidance in Approved Document M reflects more recent ergonomic research conducted to support BS 8300 and should take precedence over guidance in Approved Document K where it may appear to conflict. Further research on stairs is currently being conducted and will be reflected in future revisions of Part K and Approved Document K.’

Approved Document K states no minimum ramp width and has no requirement to have mid-flight landings or passing places. The only requirements for landings in Approved Document K is that, if there are any, they should be the same width as the ramp, doors should not encroach on clear passage, and they should be level. Passing places are essential on a long ramp, as people in wheelchairs can easily tire. If one person in a wheelchair is coming down a ramp and another starts to go up that ramp, it is essential that there are passing places. It is hoped therefore that when a revised Approved Document K is published, not only do they align the various Approved Documents, but also conform with the British Standard on which the latest Part M was supposed to be based. When authoring NBS specification products, we attempt to ‘Say it once and in the right place’ shouldn’t this rule also apply to the Approved Documents? Surely it would be better and avoid confusion if information was only stated in one location. It doesn’t really matter which Approved Document that information appears in, as all the Regulations have to be complied with. The latest edition of Part M came into effect 1 May 2004 – nearly three years ago. One would think it would be a simple matter to align Approved Document K with Approved Document M. The above conflicting advice on ramps is not the only example of conflict between Approved Document K and Approved Document M. There are also differences between the guidance given for vision panels in doors.

Written January 2007