Fire Safety
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On 19 February, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published a statement on the government’s long-term plan for housing.
The statement included an update on BSR’s plans to publish the new guidance on second staircases:
"The Building Safety Regulator will publish the new guidance on second staircases before the end of March, making clear the need for a second staircase in new multi-occupancy residential buildings that have a top occupied storey above 18 metres, and confirming that evacuation lifts will not be called for as a matter of course, providing housebuilders with the clarity they need to progress developments
The revised statutory guidance, known as Approved Document B, represents general guidance: it will not be exhaustive, and the design of each high-rise building will continue to receive individual scrutiny from experts, now via the Building Safety Regulator. The fire safety design for any higher risk buildings above 18 metres will be subject to review at Planning Gateway One by fire safety professionals, and by a multi-disciplinary team at Gateway Two, who must be satisfied that the final fire safety provisions are appropriate to the requirements of each individual building."
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The Home Office has updated its guidance on how to conduct routine checks on fire doors, provide information to residents and provide a template for a fire doors checklist.
The guidance, updated on 18th September, is aimed at Responsible Persons carrying out simple checks upon a fire door. It is based on the assumption that the fire risk assessment has already assessed the suitability of the fire doors.
This guide has been published by the Secretary of State under Article 50 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) to assist responsible persons in meeting their duties under the FSO.
Read the latest guidance here
- Fire Safety
- Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
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The Home Office has published the second of its Fire Safety Reform Team’s update.
This update covers the following issues:
- Upcoming changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
- Monitoring the impact of reforms to-date
- Promoting the fire safety reforms
- Supporting work on Fire Risk Assessor capacity and capability
- An update on the Fire Safety Guidance Programme
Download the 2nd bimonthly update here.
If you would like to be added to the distribution list or if you have any general questions then please feel free to email firesafetyreform@homeoffice.gov.uk.
- Fire Safety
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This briefing, publsihed by the House of Commons Library, discusses fire safety requirements for houses and blocks of flats, the 'stay put' strategy and the government response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
- Fire Safety
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In accordance with the Fire Safety Act 2021, any multi-occupancy residential building’s fire risk assessment must comment on the external walls and advise whether a fire risk appraisal of the external walls (FRAEW) is recommended. In a time of austerity and new regulations that have not been budgeted for, this extra outlay is not desirable. But is there any way to avoid it, legally and safely, or is the sometimes-costly external wall appraisal always required? According to façade and internal fire-safety experts FR Consultants Ltd, while the majority of in-scope buildings will always require a PAS 9980 FRAEW, there are a few select situations where they can be omitted.
It is important to understand that a full FRAEW does form a key part of the requirements for the following regulations and processes:
- structure, external walls and flat entrance doors fall within the scope of the Fire Safety Order, and the Fire Safety Act 2021 requires that these elements be included in all fire risk assessments
- the golden thread of information, the model of gathering, storing and maintaining the key information of a building’s life cycle under the Building Safety Act 2022
- as part of the information on the design and materials of the external wall system and level of risk that must be provided to the local fire and rescue service under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
- an EWS1 assessment certificate, also known as the External Wall System Fire Review certificate, is a requirement for any leaseholder buying, selling or remortgaging an apartment in a multistorey, multi-occupied residential building
- applications for the Building Safety Fund and Cladding Safety Scheme, the multi-billion-pound funds for addressing life-safety fire risks associated with cladding on mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings
- for insurance purposes, having a FRAEW has proven beneficial in reducing renewal premiums owing to the risk reduction.
In all these situations, there is no question that a FRAEW is required.
The requirement for a FRAEW is determined within the fire risk assessment, which must consider the external walls and any attachments. This includes cladding, balconies and any additional external structures, the purpose being to assess the risk to occupants from a fire spreading over or within the external walls of the building and to decide whether remediation to address the risk is considered necessary on a particular building. In some cases, owing to an isolated location or limited extent of the system, the external walls may not be considered at risk, and therefore a PAS 9980 FRAEW will not be required.
- Fire Safety