Fire, Structural and Basements – Page 7

Structural appraisal of a building proposed for retention

Authorities increasingly expect retention to be tested before demolition is proposed. Here is what the structural appraisal has to establish, how to compare the options fairly and how to present the conclusion.

Existing foundations and how deep a new basement can go

Basement depth is set by the foundations already in the ground. Here is what trial pits should establish, which depths trigger party wall notices, and where hand underpinning stops being viable.

Fire, Structural and Basements8 min read

Groundwater control for a basement below the water table

A basement below the water table has to resist uplift, be dewatered without damaging neighbours and permanently displace groundwater flow. What the assessment needs to establish, consent and monitor.

Sequencing a basement excavation in a terraced street

A basement under a terraced house is judged on method as much as design. The bay sequence, spoil arithmetic, highway licences, working hours and the monitoring regime that protects the houses either side.

Care home layouts and progressive horizontal evacuation

Progressive horizontal evacuation moves residents sideways into an adjoining fire compartment rather than out of the building. That decision sets compartment lines, corridor widths and bedroom numbers, so it belongs in the layout from the first sketch.

Waste and cycle stores in the ground floor of a block

Bin stores and cycle stores want the same corner of the ground floor as the core and the entrance. Draw the containers at full size before anything else is fixed.

Podium car parks, ventilation and the fire strategy

Ventilation openings for a podium car park have to go somewhere, and design policy wants that frontage. Settle the strategy before the elevations are fixed.

Timber frame and the fire questions asked at planning

Fire performance belongs to Building Regulations, yet timber frame still raises questions at planning. Three routes bring it onto the case officer's desk.

Fire, Structural and Basements8 min read

Green roofs, biodiversity and fire spread

Biodiverse roofs are varied and dry, which is what makes them valuable and what makes fire spread a concern. How borders, substrate depth, arrays and maintenance reconcile the two.

Balcony materials on residential buildings

Balconies are specified attachments under regulation 7(2), and Approved Document B guidance reaches down to 11 metres. What that means for decking, soffits, balustrades, screens and drainage.

Firefighting shafts in an office to flats conversion

A storey above 18 metres means a firefighting shaft, and office cores rarely have one. The lobby, stair and lift requirements, their effect on unit counts, and the consent route for the works needed.

Dry riser inlets on a constrained street frontage

The inlet cabinet is 600 mm of steel door that has to appear on your street elevation, within sight of where the fire appliance will stand. Decide where before the elevation is drawn.

Smoke shaft provision and the shape of the building envelope

Smoke control is treated as a building control matter and then changes the core, the corridor lengths and the roofline. Resolving it after permission is the expensive way round.

Tall building fire safety expectations in London

In London a fire statement is expected on all major development, well below the 18 metre national trigger. Understanding the two overlapping requirements saves a round of resubmission.

Ground movement and damage categories for basements

A basement impact assessment stands or falls on the movement prediction. Here is how the staged approach works, what the damage categories mean, and which inputs reviewers test first.

Coalfield referral areas and what the report must cover

In a Coal Authority referral area the local validation list will require a coal mining risk assessment. Mine entry standoffs and grouting zones change the layout, not just the budget.

Piling, vibration and nearby historic buildings

The published vibration guide values are not a safe limit for lime-mortared rubble walls. Method selection, lower trigger levels and a condition survey do the real work.

Party wall procedure alongside a basement permission

Planning permission and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 run on separate tracks. Serve notices after the structural design is fixed, and expect dissent even from neighbours who never objected.

Sprinklers as a planning matter rather than a building one

Suppression is a building control requirement in most new residential buildings. It becomes a planning issue only when the layout depends on it, and that distinction decides whether a condition will survive.

Measuring building height for the higher-risk threshold

Half a metre either side of 18 metres changes the consent route, the programme and the cost of a scheme. The measurement convention is written down, and it is not the one most design teams use by habit.

Filling in the fire statement form section by section

The form is short, which is exactly why it gets written badly. Each section is asking a specific question about this site, and generic answers come straight back through consultation.

When a fire statement is required with a planning application

The fire statement requirement turns on two things: what the building contains and how tall it is. Both are narrower than people assume, and both decide whether your application validates.

Fire, Structural and Basements8 min read

Structural evidence for converting a chapel or mill

Tall masonry walls with little between them behave differently from a house. What the appraisal has to establish before a conversion layout is fixed.

5 October 2026Read article →