High rise domestic buildings: inventory

Conclusions and next steps

35. This summary report is based on information held in the HRI collection in August 2021 and should be treated as a snapshot in time. The HRI exercise has been a comprehensive undertaking and the efforts of those involved in its compilation are acknowledged.

36. Realising the objective of the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety for a central source of information on key aspects of the construction and fire safety features of high rise domestic blocks. It is also central to related work of the Ministerial Working Group e.g. in helping to establish the extent of the use of external High Pressure Laminate (HPL) cladding, and in the development of fire safety guidance for high rise buildings.

37. Beyond the fundamental information collated in the HRI (e.g. on building location or completion date), unknown data remains and the collection has also identified a number of potential issues which have been or are being addressed with relevant bodies. These include:

• ACM – in the period following the Grenfell Tower fire, data was collected on buildings with ACM-PE installed. This data collection was coordinated through Local Authority Building Standards departments. The Scottish Government has since continued to engage with relevant Local Authorities on plans for replacement and management of ACM-PE cladding on buildings.
• Fire doors – requirements for fire doors in high rise housing have changed over time. Prior to 1 May 2005 requirements were for doors providing 30 minutes fire separation, with the requirement thereafter for 60 minutes fire separation. Older fire doors should still provide resistance and even non-fire rated doors should provide some resistance to fire.

38. SFRS have provided updates for all buildings in respect of questions 4.4 and 4.4.1 based on information highlighted during their operational assurance visits. SFRS undertake operational assurance visits to high rise domestic buildings in Scotland, with a procedure in place for these to be undertaken on a quarterly basis. The purpose of these inspections is to obtain information for operational purposes and to ensure compliance with Regulatory requirements relating to the common areas of private dwellings.

39. As the HRI is to be an annual undertaking, it may be expected that any outstanding defects identified through the 2021 exercise shall be addressed as required in future iterations. Given the HRI's scale and scope, and the challenges of delivering a complete inventory, it can be further expected that data collection processes will be refined and improved for future exercises. There will also be an iterative process of improvement while questions are considered and improved where necessary for future data collections.