IN Brief:
- Qualifying fibre penetrations of 25mm or less in existing non-HRBs can proceed without normal building notice and completion-certificate requirements.
- Installers must retain same-day firestopping and weatherproofing, appropriate soundproofing, competence, and BS 6701-compliant materials.
- The replacement removes the previous prior-written-approval condition but leaves wider Building Regulations and handover duties intact.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has replaced a Building Act direction covering small wall penetrations for fibre-optic cabling in existing non-higher-risk buildings in England, removing one approval condition while retaining the technical requirements applied to the work.
The direction covers building work consisting solely of drilling holes no more than 25mm in diameter through internal or external walls to install fibre-optic cabling. Where the conditions are met, the requirements under regulations 12 and 17 of the Building Regulations 2010 for a building notice or building control approval application and a completion certificate are dispensed with.
It replaces a direction dated 7 July 2026 that came into force on 1 September. The scope remains unchanged, but a condition requiring prior written approval from the relevant person after considering the risk of external fire spread has been removed following consultation with the Building Safety Regulator.
The change is narrower than the procedural relaxation might initially suggest. Appropriate firestopping, weatherproofing, and soundproofing remain required, with firestopping and weatherproofing to be completed on the same calendar day that the penetration is made. External-wall weatherproofing also has to be designed to prevent water ingress.
Installer competence remains another condition of the dispensation. The person carrying out the work must be able to demonstrate appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience through relevant training covering firestopping, weatherproofing, and soundproofing, while competence must be reviewed regularly.
Cabling and associated materials must conform with BS 6701:2016+A1:2017, covering telecommunications equipment and telecommunications cabling installation, operation, and maintenance. The direction therefore removes defined building-control procedures without creating a lower technical standard for the installation itself.
The wider functional requirements of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 continue to apply. Government guidance accompanying the direction specifically retains consideration of firestopping, weatherproofing, soundproofing, and structural assessment, alongside the dutyholder and competence requirements established under Part 2A of the regulations.
Information-handover duties also remain. The dispensation does not remove the applicable requirements under regulations 38 to 40B of Part 8 of the Building Regulations 2010, meaning qualifying installation work still has to be considered within the information that must pass to the relevant person where those regulations apply.
That retained information trail also gives building owners and dutyholders a practical way to evidence what was installed, by whom, and under which conditions. Simplified notification does not remove the value of records showing the location of penetrations, the sealing system used, and the competence basis relied upon for the work.
That distinction matters operationally on refurbishment and connectivity programmes involving repeated small penetrations across existing buildings. Removing the need for separate building notices and completion certificates reduces a procedural burden for tightly defined work, but installers still need to identify wall construction, select compatible sealing methods, protect compartmentation, and leave an installation capable of meeting the remaining regulations.
The 25mm threshold also provides a clear boundary. The direction does not create a general telecommunications exemption for wall alterations, nor does it cover broader associated refurbishment simply because fibre forms part of the work. Its wording applies where the building work solely consists of the specified small penetrations in an existing building outside the higher-risk regime.
Higher-risk buildings are subject to separate telecommunications provisions and a different building-control framework. Contractors working across mixed portfolios will therefore need to distinguish between ordinary existing buildings covered by this direction and assets where the Building Safety Regulator remains the building-control authority for higher-risk work.
The conditions are enforceable. The direction provides for liability where a person contravenes, or permits the contravention of, its specified requirements, including the possibility of continuing fines after conviction while an offence remains unresolved.
The replacement direction took effect from 1 September 2026 and is limited to three years. It does not alter the continued operation of building legislation in relation to breaches that occurred before it came into force.
For installation teams, the practical change is therefore administrative rather than structural: a qualifying penetration no longer needs the normal notice and completion-certificate route, and the earlier written-approval condition has gone. The hole itself still has to satisfy the regulations that prevent a minor connectivity job from becoming an equally minor-looking defect in fire, water, acoustic, or structural performance.
