CIOB and RIBA have jointly published a guide to managing safety-critical elements (SCEs) in building construction.
The Guide to Managing Safety-Critical Elements in Building Construction is a 24-page document with practical advice on how to identify high-risk elements in and around buildings and ensure good practice.
It also includes systems that should be adopted to ensure that SCEs are properly incorporated.
It is aimed at CIOB and RIBA members and the wider built environment sector.
The guide highlights elements that can pose significant risk to people in and around buildings if they are omitted or installed incorrectly.
These elements include combustibility of cladding and insulating materials, safe means of escape for occupants and firefighter access and effective fire compartmentation, among others.
CIOB past president Paul Nash, who chaired the safety-critical elements working group, said: “At its heart, this guide is about ensuring that the buildings we create are safe for those who use them. That means ensuring every element that goes into a building is designed and installed correctly and this is independently verified before a building is occupied. The guide is another step towards creating a safer built environment.”
