Does Timber High-Rise Equal High Risk?

By 0  April 1st, 2016

Much of our building code has evolved from the Great Fire of London. The fire that wiped out 80 per cent of the city in 1666 led to the London Building Act of 1667 - the first that enabled surveyors to enforce its regulations. It laid down that all houses were to be built in brick or stone, with the number of storeys and width of walls carefully specified. Three-hundred-and-fifty years later, we still see construction above three storeys as risky business. But is it? Tony Arnel, global director of sustainability at Norman Disney & Young, says it's time for a change.