Circular letter on Approved Document M volume 2 amendments

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To:

The Chief Executive Unitary, Metropolitan, District and London Borough Councils in England County and County Borough Councils in Wales

The Town Clerk, City of London The Clerk, Council of the Isles of Scilly The Sub-Treasurer, Inner Temple The Under Treasurer, Middle Temple

The Head of Building Control Unitary Metropolitan, District and London Borough Councils in England County and County Borough Councils in Wales City of London Council of the Isles of Scilly

Approved Inspectors

cc:The Chief Executive:

County Councils in England National Park Authorities in England & Wales

Chair: National Fire Chiefs Council

Dear Sir or Madam

Amendments to Approved Document M 2015

I am writing to inform you amendments being made to Approved Document M (Access to and use of buildings) 2015 edition Volume 2 – Buildings other than dwellings regarding the provision of changing places toilets in certain new publicly accessible buildings.

Summary of main changes

The guidance Approved Document M (access to and use of buildings), volume two, 2015 for has been amended following a consultation the provision of changing places toilets on the 12 May 2019 which ran for a period of 10 weeks, ending on 22 July 2019, but was then reopened for targeted consultation of sectors most likely to be affected in February 2020 using the same questions.

The guidance in paragraphs 5.6 and 5.7 has been amended to mandate for the provision of changing places toilets within appropriately sized, publicly accessible buildings. The provision states that changing places toilets should be provided in the following buildings types:

i.Assembly, recreation and entertainment buildings (see note) with a capacity for 350 or more people. Or a collection of smaller buildings associated with a site used for assembly, recreation or entertainment such as: zoos, theme parks and venues for sport and exhibitions with a capacity of 2000 people or more;

ii.Shopping centres/malls or retail parks with a gross floor area of 30,000 m² or more;

iii.Retail premises with a gross floor area of 2500m² or more;

iv.Sport and leisure buildings with a gross floor area over 5000m²;

v.Hospitals and primary care centres;

vi.Crematoria and cemetery buildings.

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Amusement arcades;

Art galleries;

Cinemas;

Concert halls;

Conference centres;

Further education colleges;

Hotels that provide function, sport or leisure facilities;

Libraries open to the public;

Motorway service areas;

Museums;

Places of worship;

Theatres;

University buildings open to the public.

Clarification is also provided on how the capacities should be derived in these buildings.

The amendments also state that further guidance on layout and equipment is available from the changing places consortium campaign website (www.changing-places.org) and by reference to guidance in section 18.6, diagram 48 as well as Annexes F and G of BS 8300-2:2018.

Transitional arrangement

The changes in the amendment booklet take effect on 1st January 2021. The amendments do not apply in any case where a building notice or an initial notice has been given to, or full plans deposited with, a local authority and either the building work to which it relates has

(a)Started before that day; or

(b)by 1st March 2021.

Scope of this Circular Letter

The guidance in this Circular Letter applies to buildings and building work in England.

Associated Publications from MHCLG

The amendment booklet which include all changes to the guidance in Approved Document M (access to and use of buildings) 2015 is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-and-use-of-buildings-approved-document-m

The Government response to the consultation on the provision of changing places toilets is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changing-places-toilets

Hard copies of Approved Document M (access to and use of buildings), volume two, 2015 (including amendments up to July 2020) will be available from the publisher later in the year when the changes take effect. Versions before that date will need to be read alongside the amendment booklet.

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Enquiries

Telephone enquiries on this Circular Letter should be addressed to Technical Policy Division on 0303 444 0000 and all e-mail enquiries to enquiries.br@communities.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

Frances Kirwan

Deputy Director

Technical Policy Division

Building Safety Portfolio