Question reference: S6W-23969
- Date lodged: 21 December 2023
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Current status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to addressing potentially dangerous wooden cladding on residential buildings, including balcony structures that use wooden materials.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to remediating cladding that poses a fire risk in buildings across Scotland. The Cladding Remediation Programme considers that wooden cladding, including on balcony structures, will be within scope and included as part of the building assessment process. Consideration to wooden balconies is referred to in the Scottish Advice Note (version 2.0), which advises the following: Balconies
The design and construction of balconies should not facilitate fire spread over the external wall to an extent that would pose a risk to life. There are indications that fires on balconies are becoming more common (see following link). The most common causes of such fires are deliberate ignition, careless disposal of smoking material and misuse of barbeques. The severity of a balcony fire can be increased by combustible materials, such as furnishings or discarded materials stored, or used, on the balcony.
Further information can be found in Annex 1 in the following guidance External wall systems in existing multi-storey residential buildings - fire risk: advice note - version 2 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)