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Correspondence

​​Direction under the Building Act 1984 for fibre optic cabling in non-HRBs, Circular 03/2026​

Published 3 September 2026

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/direction-under-the-building-act-1984-for-fibre-optic-cabling-in-non-hrbs-circular-032026/direction-under-the-building-act-1984-for-fibre-optic-cabling-in-non-hrbs-circular-032026

To: Local Authority Chief Executives in England, Heads of Building Control

From: Keeran Jugdoyal, Deputy Director Building Performance

Date: 3 September 2026

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
4th Floor, Fry Building
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to inform you that a direction given by the Secretary of State under Section 11 of the Building Act 1984 dated 7 July 2026 and published on 9 July 2026, which came into force on 1 September 2026, granting dispensations from certain procedural requirements of the building regulations in relation to the drilling of small holes in walls for the installation of fibre optic cabling in non-higher-risk buildings (non-HRBs) has been revoked. A replacement direction has been given by the Secretary of State which maintains the same scope but removes one of the compliance conditions. This condition has been reconsidered, and the Building Safety Regulator have been consulted on its removal.

Scope of this Circular Letter

This Circular Letter applies to buildings and building work in England. This Circular letter gives an overview of the directions. Parties should familiarise themselves with the detailed content of the directions set out at the link below.

Publications

Coming into force date and timeframes

The direction came into effect on 1 September 2026.

Description of the direction

The Secretary of State has revoked the direction dated 7 July 2026 and published on 9 July 2026, titled Direction under the Building Act 1984: Dispensation for holes for fibre optic cabling (non-HRB), and has given the following direction:

  • The requirements of regulations 12 and 17 of the Building Regulations 2010 (Giving of a building notice or an application for building control approval and Completion certificates) are dispensed with for building work that solely consists of the drilling of holes 25mm or less in diameter in internal or external walls, for the installation of fibre optic cabling in an existing building that is not a higher-risk building.

Conditions

The dispensation is subject to compliance with the following conditions:

  • Appropriate firestopping, weatherproofing and soundproofing is undertaken. Appropriate fire stopping and weatherproofing is completed on the same calendar day that any hole is made in the building. For external walls, the methods used for weatherproofing must be designed to prevent water ingress.

  • The installer can demonstrate their skills, knowledge and experience through having undertaken relevant training that includes fire stopping, weatherproofing techniques and soundproofing and their competence is regularly reviewed.

  • The fibre optic cabling and materials to be used conform with BS 6701:2016+A1:2017 entitled ‘Telecommunications equipment and telecommunications cabling. Specification for installation, operation and maintenance - Specification for installation, operation and maintenance’ and published by the British Standards Institute in October 2017.

The scope and conditions of the direction are identical to those in the direction dated 7 July 2026 and published on 9 July 2026, except with the removal of clause 2.d, which stated ‘the relevant person has granted prior written approval for the building work, giving regard to the risk of external fire spread.’

Functional requirements; Dutyholders and compliance

The dispensation does not change the need to comply with the relevant functional requirements of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 and to consider the associated guidance in the approved documents, particularly regarding firestopping, weather proofing, sound proofing and structural assessment. The dutyholder and competence requirements under Part 2A of the Building Regulations 2010 will also remain.

Handover of Information

The dispensation does not change the requirements to comply with r regulations 38 to 40B (as applicable) in Part 8 of the Building Regulations 2010 to hand over information to the relevant person.

Heads of Building Control Contacts

We are continuing to develop a contact list for local authority building control teams. If your authority’s details are not already included, please complete this Microsoft Form. Once we have coverage across all local authorities, future building control communications can be sent directly to Heads of Building Control and generic building control mailboxes, rather than being distributed via Chief Executives.

Enquiries

Enquiries on this Circular Letter should be directed to: BuildingControlProceduresEnquiries@communities.gov.uk

You can alternatively submit your enquiry by post to:

Correspondence Unit
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Yours faithfully,

Keeran Jugdoyal
Deputy Director Building Performance

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