When do office partitions need Building Control approval?
In England and Wales, the Building Regulations apply to building work, which includes material alterations that make a building less compliant with certain requirements during or after the work. New office partitions frequently fall into this category because they create rooms, lengthen travel distances to exits, form corridors or alter fire separation. Where that happens, an application to the local authority Building Control body or a registered Building Control approver is needed before or alongside the work.
Small, open-sided screens and partitions that do not create inner rooms, affect escape routes or touch fire compartment walls may not need approval, but the judgement depends on the building's fire strategy and layout. The safest approach is to share the proposed layout with Building Control or your fire engineer early. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate building standards and building control systems with similar principles, so check locally if your premises are there.
How does Approved Document B affect partitions?
Approved Document B covers fire safety, and it is the part most often triggered by partitioning. Creating rooms increases travel distances and can create inner rooms, which are rooms only reachable through another room. Inner rooms are restricted and may need vision panels or early-warning detection. Partitions forming protected corridors or protected escape routes may need a fire resistance rating, and any partition that meets an existing compartment wall or floor must not compromise it.
Fire resistance is proved by testing a complete partition system, not just the glass or the board. Glazed fire rated systems are tested to BS EN 1364-1 and fire doors to BS EN 1634-1, with older systems sometimes evidenced to BS 476-22. Performance only applies when the whole tested system is installed as tested. Ask for the manufacturer's test or assessment evidence and keep it in your fire safety records.
What do Approved Documents K and M require?
Approved Document K deals with protection from falling, collision and impact. Section 7 requires glass in critical locations to be safety glass or otherwise protected, and requires manifestation on large areas of glazing that people could mistake for an opening, in two zones between 850mm and 1000mm and between 1400mm and 1600mm above floor level. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 14, applies similar duties to employers in workplaces.
Approved Document M covers access to and use of buildings. For partitions this mainly concerns door widths, door opening forces, vision panels in doors on circulation routes, visual contrast between doors and surrounding walls, and the position of ironmongery. A new layout must not make it harder for disabled people to move around the office or reach facilities such as accessible toilets, kitchens and meeting rooms.
Do partitions need to comply with ventilation and other services rules?
Yes. Dividing an open floor changes how air, light, sound and fire detection reach each space. Approved Document F requires adequate ventilation, so every new enclosed room needs supply and extract air or another compliant route. Sprinkler heads, smoke detectors, emergency lighting and fire alarm sounders may need to be added or moved so each room is covered. These alterations are designed and certified by the relevant specialist contractors, and they must be coordinated with the partition layout before installation begins.
- Part B: fire safety, means of escape, inner rooms and compartmentation
- Part F: ventilation to each new enclosed room
- Part K: safety glazing and manifestation in critical locations
- Part M: access, door widths, contrast and vision panels
- Part L: lighting controls where lighting is altered
- Part P does not apply to commercial premises; electrical work follows BS 7671
What other permissions might you need?
Building Regulations are only one strand. In leased premises the lease usually requires a licence for alterations from the landlord before any partitioning starts, and the landlord may want drawings, method statements, insurance details and the system specification. If the building is listed, internal alterations that affect its character can need listed building consent from the local planning authority, even when Building Control approval is not required. Planning permission is rarely needed for internal partitions in ordinary offices.
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply to commercial fit-out work. The client has duties, including providing pre-construction information such as asbestos surveys and making sure a principal designer and principal contractor are appointed where more than one contractor is involved. The installer should provide risk assessments and method statements for the partition work.
Who is responsible for compliance on a partition project?
Responsibility is shared. The person carrying out the work and the client both have duties under the Building Regulations, and the responsible person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 must keep the fire risk assessment up to date after the layout changes. In practice the installer should supply compliant products with their test and certification evidence, install tested systems as tested, and coordinate with Building Control, the landlord's surveyor and the other trades.
On completion, keep the Building Control completion certificate where one is issued, the manufacturer's fire test evidence, glass certification and as-built drawings. These documents are often requested at lease end, on sale of the building or by insurers. Add the new layout to the building's fire safety information and update the fire risk assessment, and brief facilities staff on which partitions and doors are fire rated so that future cabling, signage or repairs do not unknowingly compromise them.
Frequently asked questions
Do glass office partitions need planning permission?
Normally no. Internal partitions in an ordinary office building rarely need planning permission because they do not change the outside appearance or the use of the building. Listed buildings are the main exception: internal alterations can need listed building consent. Building Regulations approval and landlord consent are separate and are more commonly required.
Can partitions block a fire escape route?
They must not reduce the safety of escape routes. Partitions that lengthen travel distances, create inner rooms or form corridors must be designed against Approved Document B and the building's fire strategy, and may need fire resistance. Share the layout with Building Control or your fire engineer before work starts.
Who applies for Building Control approval?
Either the client or the contractor can make the application, and the responsibility should be agreed in writing at quotation stage. The application usually includes a layout drawing, partition and door specifications and fire test evidence. Some projects use a registered Building Control approver instead of the local authority.
Does CDM 2015 apply to office partitioning?
Yes. CDM 2015 applies to all construction work, including commercial fit-out and partitioning. The client must make suitable arrangements for managing the project and provide pre-construction information such as asbestos surveys. Where more than one contractor is involved, a principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed in writing.
Guide prices are supply and install, excluding VAT, and are confirmed by a fixed quote after a free site survey. Regulatory information is general guidance; your Building Control body, landlord or fire engineer has the final say on a specific project.