Fire Safety
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In response to a question from a member, The Property Institute has sought advice from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service, its Primary Authority Partner, on what is the minimum size for the Secure Information Box that the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 requires to be installed and maintained on all high-rise residential buildings.
According to Dean Dixon, Hampshire’s Primary Authority Manager, “there is nothing so prescriptive as to the size of the box, only that it must hold all the information required”. The information required must of course include the A3 Orientation Plan required by the regulations to enable firefighters to orientate themselves with the building and its location in relation to the surrounding streets, neighbouring or adjoining buildings and other features that might cause them operational problems such as adjacent rivers or railway lines.
According to Dean there is nothing to prevent the A3 being folded before putting it in the box. The only risk as he sees it would be that “repeated folding and unfolding may cause the plan to degrade but hopefully there won't be too many occasions when this would happen.”
Dean notes that they have a primary authority partner “that has their A3 plan in a frame on the wall inside the development” with the additional paperwork in a Secure Information Box in the entrance porch. The frame can be released to allow access for fire services. Dean has said that if an ARMA member was to adopt this solution, they would be happy to defend the frame as a suitable receptacle if a member was challenged by other fire and rescue services as to its suitability.
- Fire Safety
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The Fire Safety Act
The Fire Safety Act clarifies the scope of the Fire Safety Order to make clear it applies to the structure, external walls (including cladding and balconies) and individual flat entrance doors between domestic premises and the common parts of a multi-occupied residential building.If you are a Responsible Person, you must consider these parts when conducting fire risk assessments, if you have not done so already.
More detail is contained in the factsheets and guidance on this page.
Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool
To support the commencement of the Fire Safety Act the government is launching the Fire Risk Assessment Prioritisation Tool. This is an online tool for Responsible Persons to prioritise how soon your fire risk assessments should be updated.To help you use of the tool, read the ‘Fire Safety Act Commencement prioritisation guidance’ available to view here.
- Fire Safety
- Fire Safety Order 2005 & 2023
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ARMA, part of The Property Institute (TPI), has today published an updated version of its ‘Fire Safety Management in Flats’ Advice Note, a good practice guide for those involved in the management of fire safety in properties in the residential long leasehold sector, including RMCs, RTMs, managing agents, developers and landlords.
This Guidance Note is for professional Fire Safety personnel involved in the residential long leasehold sector, including managing agents, developers and landlords. It represents the core of good practice for managing agents who manage fire safety in residential long leasehold properties and the clients/responsible persons who they act for. It has been written to apply to residential long leasehold properties (a lease of a term in excess of 21 years when originally granted) in England and Wales where a service charge, which varies according to expenditure, is payable.
This guidance has been independently reviewed and endorsed by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, ARMA’s Primary Authority Partner.
The Advice Note, first published in October 2019, has been substantially updated to reflect current statutory guidance and industry best practice and has been independently reviewed and endorsed by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, ARMA’s Primary Authority Partner.
The Note represents the core of good practice for those who manage fire safety in residential long leasehold properties and the clients/responsible persons whom they act for and covers four main areas: Fire Safety Law; Fire Risk Assessments; Fire Safety Management; and Managing Fire Risks. It also includes an example of a fire action notice for blocks with a Stay Put policy, advice on the scope and types of fire risk assessments (FRAs), an overview of fire design standards, and a useful index of links to current legislation and regulations, as well as guidance from Government, the National Fire Chiefs Council and RICS.
Download a copy of the Advice Note HERE
- Fire Safety
- Fire Safety Management in Flats