Several, (well three or four) are currently doing the rounds of a targeted consultation following drafting by BRE. Times scales are slipping a bit but no-one is strating to panic just yet.
BRE and the ODPM are coming up against the same problems that have dogged these guides for ages. How do you cover all bases but maintain a size that makes them usuable by the ordinary responsible person. The initial guide is being used as a template but as various parties make amendments to their sector specific guides this sometimes means that the earlier guides have to be re-visited. This iterative process is causing lots of problems.
The guides will introduce some newish concepts (firefighting lifts for disabled evacuation, BRAC didn't think of it first!!) and the travel distances are hugely simplified and presented as guidelines rather than prescriptive. They are much more readable than existing guides and work really hard to avoid techno speak and jargon. (However, latest amendments from trade have tended to re-introduce BS this and EN that).
If they are all ready in January 2006, I'll eat my hat.
