LABC Management and Technical Conference

Keeping Water Out of Façades, and Designing Balconies That Are Safe, Not Just Compliantv

About This CPD

This technical CPD brings together two talks given by Eugene Korch at the LABC Management & Technical Conference 2026. The first looks at how water gets into façades and how to keep it out. The second looks at balconies and terraces, where regulations, accessibility, fire safety and drainage meet, and where a design can comply on paper and still be unsafe.

Part 1 starts from the forces that move water and follows them to the details that decide whether a façade leaks. Part 2 works through the London Plan, BS 8579 and the Approved Documents, from balcony size and guarding height to drainage and non-combustible decking.

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This session covers:

Part 1: Water

The six forces that move water into a façade, and the three Ds of rain control: deflection, drainage and drying
Why façades that went flat lost their deflection features, and why systems rarely leak while their interfaces do
The two-stage seal in brick, render, metal, curtain wall and precast façades
Cavity size: what UK guidance requires, what drainage actually needs, and why installation tolerance and fire drive the difference
The dimensions that matter: open joints, weep holes, coping projections and drips
Copings and sills, the interfaces where most leaks start
Open-state cavity barriers and cold smoke, and a barrier layout that meets both the fire and the moisture requirements

Part 2: Balcony Design

Balconies versus terraces, enclosed balconies, and the London Plan requirements for space and transparency
Accessibility: turning space, door width, threshold height and sill slope
Guarding height, upstands, toe holds, climbable balustrades, handrails and toe boards under BS 8579
Fire safety: non-combustible balcony elements and soffits, slip resistance of decking, and wind uplift of paving
Drainage: the 2.5 m limit for edge drainage, the "6 m² rule" myth, catchment areas, and the three-level water management hierarchy
Wind comfort on high-rise balconies, and why a compliant balcony is not always a safe one

Built around real buildings, site photographs and the questions building control professionals ask, this CPD is about what to look for on drawings and on site: where water will get in, and where a balcony that meets every rule can still put people at risk.

Target Audience

This session is designed for anyone who designs, specifies, builds or inspects external walls and balconies on residential, commercial and mixed-use buildings, and especially for building control professionals who see these details on site.

This Short Course is designed for:

Building Control Surveyors
Building Inspectors
Clerks of Works
Architects
Architectural Technologists
Envelope Designers
Façade Engineers
Façade Specialist Contractors
Building Envelope Consultants
Structural Engineers, Developers
Project Managers
Design Managers

Speakers

Eugene Korch

Programme Director, IAST

Eugene is a façade engineer and educator who leads educational initiatives through the Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST) and Facade Intelligence, delivering training to construction professionals.

Course Objectives

By the end of this CPD course, learners are expected to be able to:

Explain the forces that move water into a façade and apply the three Ds of rain control
Identify the first-stage and second-stage seals in common UK façade types
Assess cavity widths against drainage needs, installation tolerances and fire behaviour
Check open joints, weep holes, coping projections and drips against practical minimum dimensions
Recognise the leak risk at copings and sills, and the details that control it
Plan cavity barrier layouts that control cold smoke without trapping water
Apply London Plan and BS 8579 requirements for balcony size, transparency and accessibility
Check guarding heights, upstands, toe holds and handrails against BS 8579
Choose between edge and piped drainage and work out the catchment area for an outlet
Recognise the slip resistance and wind uplift consequences of non-combustible balcony materials
Spot balcony hazards that comply on paper but are unsafe in usel

Course Details

Format: On-demand CPD in two parts, Part 1: Water and Part 2: Balcony Design
Duration: Approximately 1.5 hours of video, about 45 minutes per part
CPD Points: 2 hours structured CPD
Certificate: CPD certificate issued on passing the multiple-choice test for each part
Recording: Available on demand on the IAST learning platform

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