Specifying decking for high-rise buildings is a complex task. And with regulations moving at a fast pace, it’s only getting trickier.
- Time is ticking for dangerous cladding to be removed from all high-rise buildings that are 18 meters or taller, under the Housing Secretary’s 2029 deadline.
- A host of new and reviewed building standards continue to roll out as a result of the Hackitt Report, which strategises ways to minimise fire spread across external spaces.
- BS 8579:2020 has been updated to mandate the use of ‘non-combustible materials in balcony construction for buildings over 11m in height’.
If you’re sifting through the details, you’re in the right place. We’ve rounded up the key changes specifiers of high-rise buildings need to be aware of as we head into 2026 and beyond.
Why high-rise buildings specifications have changed
Following the devastating Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the government commissioned Dame Judith Hackitt to lead the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. The interim report in 2017 found ‘the current system of building regulations and fire safety is not fit for purpose’. When the final report was published the next year, it saw ‘further evidence confirming the deep flaws in the current system’.
Introduction of The Building Safety Act
Fast-forward to 2022, and The Building Safety Act was published – a direct response to the Grenfell Tower fire and the Hackkitt review. The primary purpose of the Act is to reform building safety regulations in the UK to reduce the risk of tragedies like Grenfell. The Act sets out to improve and maintain the safety of high-rise and higher-risk buildings throughout their lifetime through:
- A new and stricter regulatory regime
- Higher material standards
- Enhanced responsibilities and increased accountabilities of developers and building owners
- The need for a ‘proactive culture’ within the construction industry
A complex landscape for specifiers
There’s also the Housing Secretary’s 2029 deadline we mentioned, relating to the removal of dangerous cladding from all high-rise buildings that are 18 meters or taller. It also includes stricter bans on combustible cladding and tougher penalties for non-compliance.
But that’s not all. Specifiers also need to navigate:
Specifications that are growing in size
And they’re getting more stringent. It’s not just fire safety measures that are evolving, but more advanced structural and mechanical systems are needed, too.
New fire-ratings
Developers have never relied on specifiers more to choose the right materials with the right ratings – or risk breaching compliance and safety.
A higher focus on UK fire safety laws
Following updates in March 2025 to the statutory guidance ‘Fire safety: Approved Document B’, there’s now a ban on using combustible materials for balconies on buildings over 11 metres tall. To comply with the fire safety regulations, any materials used must be Class A fire-rated.
So, what fire-ratings does high-rise decking need to have?
To be considered ‘fire-safe’, high-rise constructions need to use non-combustible materials, like aluminium, across components including:
- Decking
- Drainage systems
- Soffits
All the aluminium decking boards and components in the Adek system we supply for high-rise projects are non-combustible. They’ve also undergone independent third-party testing to BS EN 13501-1: 2018 and are classified at A2fl-s1 & A2-s1, d0.
Understanding A2fl-s1 and A2-s1, d0 fire-ratings
The European Euroclass system for building materials includes several classifications to indicate differing levels of fire safety. A2fl-s1 and A2-s1, d0 classifications are two of the highest levels of fire safety that materials can have – and the ones most specifiers look out for when working on high-rise buildings.
Below, we’ve broken down what each element of the ratings mean:
- A2: Non-combustible material. Contribution to fire is very limited.
- s1: Material produces little to no smoke.
- d0: Material doesn’t produce any flaming droplets or particles.
- fl: Indicates the classification is specifically for floor coverings.
A2-s1, d0 fire-rating
A fire classification for general building materials which are non-combustible, have a very limited contribution to fire, and do not produce flaming droplets or particles. A2-s1, d0 classification tends to apply to components like cladding, insulation, and coatings.
A2fl-s1 fire-rating
A classification specific to floor coverings that produce little/no smoke and are non-combustible.
CPD for specifying high-rise balconies
With all these regulatory and legislatory changes, we know it’s more challenging than ever for specifiers to know which materials to specify and where to find them.
That’s where we come in. High-rise balcony decking is our bread-and-butter, and we’ve got both the industry knowledge and technical know-how to support your specification, every step of the way. (Jump forward and view the technical data for our Adek decking boards to see what we mean.)
A specifier’s guide to non-combustible decking systems
We’ve designed our CPD-certified training course, ‘A specifier’s guide to non-combustible decking systems’, to give you an end-to-end overview of all the factors you need to consider when specifying and choosing high-rise decking. That’s from an explanation of Class A2 fire-rating and the differences between A2fl-s1 and A2-s1, d0 classification, all the way through to the suitability of aluminium in construction products.
Future regulations to have on your radar
We also touch on how the regulatory landscape around fire-ratings for high-rises continues to evolve. For instance, in just over a year, the Future Homes Standard is expected to come into effect. The government’s initiative aims to make sure that all new homes built from 2025 are ‘zero-carbon ready’.
Among other components, the homes will need to have energy efficient and low-carbon heating systems that reduce carbon emissions. Under the new standard, newly built homes will have to have carbon emissions that are at least three-quarters less than homes built to current standards.
Though the Standard doesn’t explicitly apply to high-rise buildings, the introduction and appetite for new sustainability regulations are pushing the construction industry as a whole towards more sustainable materials. For the developers we supply, and the specifiers who choose our Adek system, aluminium is the clear way forward.
Specification support
If you’re interested in finding out more about Adek or have questions about specifying your next high-rise build, please get in touch with our friendly team.