Fire Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1774 c. 78 |
(14 Geo. 3) C A P. LXXVIII.
'WHEREAS an Act of Parliament, made and passed in the twelfth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, intituled, Londonand Westminster, and the Liberties thereof, and other the Parishes, Precincts, and Places in the Weekly Bills of Mortality, the Parishes of Saint Mary-le-Bon and Paddington, Saint Pancras, and Saint Luke at Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, and for the better preventing of Mischiefs by Fire within the said Cities, Liberties, Parishes, Precincts, and Places; and for amending and reducing the Laws relating thereto into one Act, and for other Purposes , hath been found insufficient to answer the good Purposes intended thereby: And whereas it may tend to the Safety of the Inhabitants, and prevent great Inconveniencies to Builders, and Workmen employed in Buildings, within the said Cities, Liberties, Parishes, Precincts, and Places, if the Regulations contained in the said Act were repealed, and other Regulations and Provisions respecting such Buildings were established by Law:' May it please your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authorityof the same, That the several Churches, Chapels, Meeting-houses, or other Places of Publick Worship, Dwelling-houses, and all other Buildings whatsoever, at any Time heretofore begun or built, or which shall, at any Time or Times hereafter, be begun or built within the said Cities, Liberties, Parishes, Precincts, and Places, on new or old Foundations, or on Foundations partly new and partly old, shall be distinguished by, and divided into, the seven several Rates or Classes of Building herein-after described; and such seven several Rates or Classes of Building shall be under the Rules and Directions herein-after contained concerning the same.
II First Rate of Building.
II. And be it further enacted, That every Church, Chapel, Meeting-house, and other Place of Publick Worship; and every House or Building for distilling and brewing of Liquors for Sale; for making of Soap, for melting of Tallow, for dying, for boiling or distilling Turpentine, for casting Brass or Iron, for refining of Sugar, for making of Glasses for Chymical Works for Sale, of what Dimension soever the same respectively are or may be; and also every Warehouse and other Building whatsoever, not being a Dwelling-house now built, or hereafter to be built (except such Buildings as are herein-after particularly declared to be of the Fifth, Sixth, or Seventh Rate or Class of Building, which does or shall exceed three clear Stories above Ground, exclusive of the Rooms (if any) in the Roof thereof, or which is or shall be of the Height of thirty-one Feet from the Surface of the Pavement, Ground, or Way, above the Area before either of the Fronts thereof, to the Top of the Blocking-course or the Coping on the Parapet thereof; and every Dwelling-house, now built, or hereafter to be built, which, with the Offices thereto belonging and adjoining, or connected otherwise than by a Fence or Fence-wall, or covered Passage, open on one or both Sides, when finished, does or shall exceed the Value of eight hundred and fifty Pounds; and also every Dwelling-house, which does or shall exceed nine Squares of Building on the Ground-floor, each Square containing one hundred superficial Feet, shall be deemed the First Rate or Class of Building.
III Thickness of external Walls to the First Rate.
III. And it is hereby further enacted, That every Front, Side, End, or other external Wall (not being a Party-wall), which shall, after the twenty-fourth Day ofJune , in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, be built to any First Rate Building, or to any Addition thereto, or Enlargement thereof; shall be built and remain, at the Foundation thereof, of the Thickness of two Bricks and an Half in Length, or one Foot nine Inches and an Half at the least; and shall from thence regularly and gradually diminish on each Side of the Wall two Inches and a Quarter to the Top of the Footing of every such Wall, except where any immediate adjoining Building will not admit of such Footing being made on the Side of such Wall next such adjoining Building; in which Case such Footing shall be made as near to the Dimensions herein directed as the Case will admit; which Footing shall be nine Inches high at the least, and wholly below the upper Surface of the Pavement and Flooring-boards of the Cellar Story two Inches at the least; and every such Wall shall, from the Top of such Footing, be of the Thickness of two Bricks in Length, or one Foot five Inches and an Half at the least, up to the under Side of the one Pair of Stairs Floor; and from thence of the Thickness of one Brick and an Half in Length, or thirteen Inches at the least, up to the under Side of the Plate under the Roof or Gutter of every such Building; and from thence of the Thickness of one Brick in Length, or eight Inches and an Half at the least, up to the under Side of the Blocking-course or Coping on the Parapet of every such First Rate Building; except such Parts of every such Wall as shall be wholly of Stone, which Parts, so being of Stone, shall be of the Thickness of fourteen Inches at the least below the Ground-floor, and of nine Inches at the least above the Ground-floor; and except all Recesses above the Ground-floor in the said Walls, which shall be arched over in every Story, so nevertheless as that the Arch, and the Back of such Recess, shall be respectively of the Thickness of one Brick in Length, or eight Inches and an Half at the least.
IV Thickness of Party-walls to the First Rate.
IV. And it is hereby further enacted, That every Party-wall which shall, after the said twenty-fourth Day ofJune , be built to any First Rate Building, or to any Addition thereto, or Enlargement thereof, shall be built and remain, at the Foundation thereof, of the Thickness of three Bricks and an Half in Length, or two Feet six Inches and an Half at the least; and shall, from thence, regularly and gradually diminish on each Side of the Wall four Inches and an Half to the Top of the Footing of every such Wall, which Footing shall be one Foot high at the least, and wholly below the upper Surface of the Pavement and Flooring-boards of the Cellar Story two Inches at the least; and every such Party-wall shall, from the Top of such Footing, be of the Thickness of two Bricks and an Half in Length, or one Foot nine Inches and an Half at the least, up to the under Side of the Ground-floor; and from thence of the Thickness of two Bricks in Length, or one Foot five Inches and an Half at the least, up to the under Side of the Floor of the Rooms (if any) in the Roof of the highest Building adjoining to such Party-wall; and from thence of the Thickness of one Brick and an Half in Length, or thirteen Inches at the least, up to the Top of every such Party-wall.
V Second Rate.
V. And be it further enacted, That every Warehouse, Stable, and other Building, not being a Dwelling-house, except such Buildings as are herein particularly declared to be of the First, Fifth, Sixth, or Seventh Rate or Class of Building, now built, or hereafter to be built, which does or shall exceed two clear Stories, and shall not contain more than three clear Stories above Ground, exclusive of the Rooms (if any) in the Roof thereof, or which is, or shall be, of the Height of twenty-two Feet, and shall not be of the Height of thirty-one Feet from the Surface of the Pavement, Ground, or Way, above the Area before either of the Fronts thereof, to the Top of the Blocking-course or Coping on the Parapet thereof; and every Dwelling-house now built, or hereafter to be built, which, with the Offices thereto belonging and adjoining, or connected, otherwise than by a Fence or Fence-wall, or covered Passage open on one or both Sides, when finished, does or shall exceed the Value of three hundred Pounds, and shall not amount to more than the Value of eight hundred and fifty Pounds; and also every Dwelling-house, which does or shall exceed five Squares of Building on the Ground Plan, and shall not amount to more than nine Squares of Building on the Ground Plan thereof, shall be deemed the Second Rate or Class of Building.
VI Thickness of external Wall to the Second Rate.
VI. And it is hereby further enacted, That every Front, Side, or other external Wall (not being a Party-wall), which shall, after the said twenty-fourth Day ofJune , be built, to any Second Rate Building, or to any Addition thereto, or Enlargement thereof shall be built and remain, at the Foundation thereof, of the Thickness of two Bricks in Length, or...
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