Navigating the Future of Fire Compliance in Wales
In Wales, Approved Document B (Fire Safety) is being updated under The Building (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2025, which will come into force on 20 December 2025. The amendment slip to AD B (Volumes 1 & 2) removes some older provisions, introduces new measures and signals the eventual full removal of BS 476 fire-classification references.
While the current update does not immediately remove all BS 476 references, Welsh Government has proposed that future versions of AD B will fully phase out BS 476 in favour of the European BS EN 13501 standard. Under BS EN 13501, fire performance is classified more precisely by criteria such as reaction to fire (how materials ignite/spread), fire resistance (load-bearing, integrity, insulation), smoke production, and flaming droplets/debris — giving classes like “B-s1, d0” or “C-s3, d2” that reflect more nuanced risk than the old BS 476 ratings.
Concurrently, fire-safety legislation in Wales has also strengthened: the Fire Safety Act 2021 came into force in Wales on 1 October 2021, clarifying that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (FSO) applies not only to common parts but also to external walls, windows, balconies, and other structural elements of multi-occupancy residential buildings. Then, under Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, further amendments (commenced in Wales) require that all Responsible Persons record their fire risk assessments in full, ensure any fire risk assessor they appoint is competent, share fire-safety information with new Responsible Persons, and provide residents with clear fire-safety information (including name and UK address of the Responsible Person).
For assessing fire risks from external walls, Welsh guidance increasingly refers to PAS 9980:2022 — a Publicly Available Specification for conducting a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW). BSI PAS 9980 provides a structured, risk-based five-step method for evaluating the combustibility of wall systems, insulation, cavity barriers, facade geometry, fire-spread potential, and more.