The January 2026 reprinted edition of TGD B 2024 Volume 1 is now the current version of Ireland's Technical Guidance Document B for buildings other than dwelling houses. It is not a completely new fire safety code, and it does not rewrite Part B of the Building Regulations. It is a corrected reprint of the 2024 document, with a schedule at the front listing 37 corrections issued since publication.

That distinction matters. Some of the corrections are plainly editorial. Others correct cross-references, wording, diagram details or missing table entries that could affect how a live design is checked. If a project, fire safety certificate application, fire strategy or internal design checklist still relies on the March 2024 PDF, it should be reviewed against the January 2026 reprinted edition.

This article explains what changed, which corrections deserve priority review, and how architects, fire engineers, assigned certifiers, building owners and fire risk assessors should use the reprinted edition in practice.

What TGD B Is and Is Not

Technical Guidance Document B is published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the Building Regulations. Volume 1 provides guidance for buildings other than dwelling houses. It deals with the Part B fire safety requirements covering means of warning and escape, internal fire spread, external fire spread, access and facilities for the fire service, and provision of information.

TGD B is guidance, not the legislation itself. The document explains that work carried out in accordance with the guidance will, on a prima facie basis, indicate compliance with Part B. It also makes clear that alternative approaches are not precluded, provided the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations are met. That is important for complex buildings, unusual uses and fire engineered designs.

The current official page for TGD B Volume 1 identifies the January 2026 reprinted edition as the current edition. The same page also lists the March 2024 version as a previous edition. For document control purposes, the January 2026 reprint is the version design teams should be using now.

Transitional Arrangements

The reprinted edition carries the same transitional framework as TGD B 2024. It applies to the design of works, or buildings in which a material change of use takes place, where the works commence or the change of use takes place on or after 1 May 2025. The older 2006 TGD B generally ceases to have effect from that date, subject to the transitional provisions set out in the document.

There are transitional routes where a relevant planning application, Part 8 notice, fire safety certificate or strategic housing development decision existed on or before 30 April 2025, provided the structure of the external walls is erected not later than 30 April 2028. The details matter, so project teams should not rely on broad assumptions about which edition applies.

The January 2026 reprint does not make TGD B retrospective to every existing building. Existing buildings are a different question. TGD B is often used as a benchmark in fire risk assessment and refurbishment planning, but the Building Regulations framework itself is tied to new works, material alterations, material changes of use and other defined triggers.

The Priority Corrections

The correction schedule lists 37 amendments. The first priority is Amendment 2, which adds an 18 metre single-direction travel distance for offices and shops in Table 3. In the original 2024 document, that value was missing. Any office or shop layout with single-direction travel should be rechecked against the corrected table.

Amendment 5 is also important for care facilities. Paragraph 1.4.5.6 now makes clear that the sprinkler exception for walls between bedrooms does not apply to a compartment wall. That wording matters because compartment walls are part of the wider fire strategy, particularly where progressive horizontal escape is used in residential care buildings.

Amendment 6 changes the logic for protected lobbies serving stage areas. The revised wording says protected lobbies should be provided in each of the listed situations. The removal of the repeated or wording reduces the risk that designers treat the listed situations as alternatives.

Amendments 11 and 12 replace or with and in provisions relating to protected lobbies, corridors and external stairways. These are small words with large consequences. Where a design previously relied on meeting one condition as an alternative to another, it should be checked again to confirm the corrected cumulative requirement is satisfied.

Amendment 17 adds a new paragraph on measuring travel distance within common corridors in flats. It states that distance should be measured from the furthest flat entrance door to the protected stair or lobby door, and that the lobby should give direct access to the stair without direct access to flats or ancillary accommodation. This is a practical correction for apartment common parts and should be picked up in residential design reviews.

Amendment 20 changes the panic hardware threshold wording for certain purpose groups. Exit doors from areas holding more than 60 people in purpose groups 4(a), 4(b) and 5(a)(ii), and more than 50 people in other purpose group 5 buildings, should either be free from fastenings or fitted with compliant panic hardware. Door schedules and occupancy calculations should be reconciled with the corrected text.

Amendment 25 updates a series of diagrams, including Diagram 58 for atria in buildings containing flats. The corrected diagram aligns with the 18 metre limit in the text, rather than the 30 metre figure shown in the original diagram. If an atrium proposal relied on the old diagram rather than the text, it needs review.

Amendment 34 adds protected corridor wording to Table 31 item 11(d), so electrical distribution board enclosure requirements are not read as applying only to protected stairways. Amendment 35 narrows Appendix H references to purpose group 2(a)(ii) in the minimum stairways and sprinkler rows. Both corrections are worth checking in healthcare, residential care and mixed-use work.

Other Corrections in the Schedule

The remaining corrections are still useful for document control. Amendment 1 aligns the B12 wording with S.I. No. 108 of 2024 by referring to active fire safety systems. Amendment 3 changes an incorrect shopping centre reference to residential care facility buildings. Amendment 4 removes a stray paragraph reference. Amendment 7 adds an I.S. EN 13501-1 classification reference. Amendments 8 and 9 correct student accommodation references and wording.

Amendment 10 adds circulation space wording for battery storage. Amendments 13 to 16 correct diagram references, update Diagrams 18 and 20, change corridor to hallway in one flat-related provision and remove or rescue from an escape window reference. Amendment 18 corrects a subsection reference. Amendment 19 adds Appendix B cross-references after I.S. EN 13637. Amendment 21 tidies the refuge wording by replacing where one exists with where one has been provided.

The later corrections include Table 15 note reference changes, added wording for flats in paragraph 3.4.4.7(e), corrected subclause references in paragraph 3.5.10, removal of Table 19 note references, a Diagram 66 paragraph reference correction, insertion of the protractor method in paragraph 4.4.6.1, adding purpose group 7(c) to Table 21, a Table 24 title correction, operated replacing openable in paragraph 5.5.6.3, and renumbering in paragraph 6.10.2.

Amendment 33 changes the sprinkler section title to Provision of Sprinkler Systems. Amendment 36 standardises the Class prefix before reaction-to-fire references such as A1, A2 and B. Amendment 37 is the global editorial correction covering spelling, spacing, punctuation, font colours, page numbers, watermarks and in-document citations.

Why Small Corrections Can Matter

It is easy to dismiss a reprint as housekeeping. That would be a mistake. Fire safety design often turns on precise wording. A missing travel distance value, a wrong diagram label or a single or where the intended meaning is and can change how a design is checked. Even where the underlying policy has not changed, the corrected document gives clearer evidence of how the Department intends the guidance to be read.

The practical risk is not that every March 2024 design is automatically wrong. The risk is that a design team, certifier or assessor continues to rely on an ambiguity that has now been corrected. If the correction affects a route length, compartment wall, protected lobby, door hardware schedule, electrical enclosure or height trigger, it should be reviewed and recorded.

This is also a communication issue. Fire strategies, drawings, compliance reports and fire safety certificate submissions are often read by different people at different stages of a project. If one person works from the original PDF and another works from the reprinted edition, disagreements can arise over what the guidance says. A simple document control note avoids that problem.

Who Should Act Now

Architects and design managers should update office libraries, project templates and internal checklists. The immediate focus should be live projects not yet lodged, projects awaiting fire safety certificate response, and projects where the design team is resolving compliance comments. Where the corrections are not relevant, record that briefly and move on.

Fire engineers should review baseline assumptions in fire strategies, especially where an alternative approach is justified by comparison with TGD B. If the baseline guidance has been corrected, the comparison should be checked. That is particularly important for atria, residential common corridors, care facilities, complex escape arrangements and projects involving panic hardware calculations.

Assigned certifiers and design certifiers should be able to identify which edition was used for the design being certified. The reprint does not remove the need for professional judgement, but it does change the document control position. Where certificates, inspection plans or ancillary certificates refer to TGD B 2024, the project file should make clear whether the January 2026 reprint was considered.

Building owners and facility managers should not try to redesign buildings from the correction schedule. Their better role is to ask the right questions. If a refurbishment, extension, change of use or fire risk assessment is underway, ask whether the current TGD B Volume 1 reprinted edition has been used and whether any of the priority corrections affect the recommendations.

Sector Implications

For care facilities, the most relevant corrections are the residential care purpose group references, the bedroom wall and compartment wall wording, and the Appendix H purpose group clarification. These issues link directly to progressive horizontal evacuation, compartmentation and the level of protection needed for residents who may not self-evacuate.

For offices and shops, the missing 18 metre single-direction travel distance in Table 3 is the obvious check. Small premises and fitted-out commercial units can sometimes develop dead-end conditions during layout changes. Designers should remeasure the worst-case route rather than assume the old table structure was harmless.

For apartment projects, the common corridor measurement rule and atrium diagram correction are the main points. These are design-stage issues that can affect escape strategy, stair access, lobby design and smoke control thinking. They should be checked before the design is too far advanced to change easily.

For assembly and recreation buildings, door hardware thresholds and protected lobby wording should be checked early in design reviews.

How to Review Live Projects

Start with document control. Replace saved copies of the March 2024 PDF with the January 2026 reprinted edition, and record the version used on project checklists. Where reports cite page numbers, update them carefully because front matter and corrections can move page references. Paragraph, table and diagram references are safer than page references.

Next, triage the project by building type. Offices and shops need a travel distance check against Table 3. Residential care projects need the purpose group and compartment wall corrections checked. Flats need the common corridor measurement rule and atrium diagram correction reviewed. Assembly, shopping centre and recreation projects need the panic hardware threshold and protected lobby wording checked.

Then review the evidence. Do not simply write that the reprint has been considered. Record the relevant paragraph or table, the design check carried out, and whether the design still complies. Where a correction changes the interpretation of a previous assumption, the design team should decide whether the drawings, fire strategy, door schedule, alarm strategy or fire safety certificate submission need amendment.

Fire Risk Assessments and Existing Buildings

For existing buildings, the reprint should be used carefully. A fire risk assessor may refer to current TGD B as a benchmark, but that does not automatically mean every existing building must be upgraded to every current design provision. The assessment should consider the age of the building, original approvals, current use, occupancy, management arrangements and the risk to people.

That said, the corrections may still matter in a practical assessment. If an existing building has long single-direction travel, weak compartmentation, unclear panic hardware provision or electrical distribution boards in protected routes, the corrected guidance can help frame the risk discussion. The assessor should explain the significance rather than simply cite TGD B as if it applied retrospectively.

What Phoenix STS Recommends

For design teams, the sensible approach is a short reprint review note for every affected live project. Identify whether the January 2026 corrections affect travel distances, purpose group classification, bedroom compartmentation, protected lobbies, common corridors, panic hardware, atria, electrical distribution boards or Appendix H height triggers.

For building owners and facility managers, the practical action is to ask advisers which edition they are using. Fire strategies, fire risk assessments and planned works reports should now refer to the January 2026 reprinted edition where TGD B 2024 is being used.

Phoenix STS can support fire engineering reviews, fire risk assessments, fire safety certificate support and design-stage compliance checks where the reprint affects a project. The update also links with I.S. 3218:2024, fire doors, smoke control and healthcare compartmentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the January 2026 reprint a new TGD B?

No. It is a reprinted edition of TGD B 2024 with corrections incorporated. It is the current official version of Volume 1, but it should not be described as a wholly new fire safety code.

How many corrections are listed?

The correction schedule at the front of the reprinted edition lists 37 corrections. Some are editorial, while others correct wording, diagrams, table entries or references that can affect design checks.

Does it apply to existing buildings?

Not automatically. TGD B is building guidance for the Building Regulations and applies through the usual triggers such as new works, material alterations and material changes of use. It may still be used as a benchmark in fire risk assessment, but the assessor should apply judgement.

Which changes should be checked first?

Start with Table 3 travel distances, the compartment wall exception, protected lobby wording, the or to and corrections, the common corridor rule for flats, panic hardware thresholds, Diagram 58, Table 31 and Appendix H.

Contact Phoenix STS

For a TGD B reprint review, fire engineering support or a project compliance check, contact Phoenix STS on 043 334 9611 or use the Phoenix STS contact page.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Building Regulations compliance depends on the project, use, approvals, transitional arrangements and the fire strategy. Always use the current official documents and competent fire safety advice.