The government has published its Fire Safety Briefing into the fire safety of houses and blocks of flats. We discuss the legislation in England but it should be noted that building regulations and fire safety are devolved matters, so Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland may adopt different rules.
Fire safety rules within houses and blocks of flats varies is dependent on whether the property is at the stage of design and construction or occupation.
Design and Construction
During this stage, the Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations 2010 cover the fire safety of buildings. Any new buildings must be designed and constructed to limit the spread of fire and to help occupants escape in the event of a fire.
Occupation
Once the property is occupied, the building’s owner or manager becomes the ‘responsible person’ for fire safety under the Fire Safety Order 2005. They are required to carry out fire risk assessments and put any necessary safety measures in place. The Order applies only to the communal areas of blocks of flats and houses in multiple occupation, not to individual flats or houses.
Compliance and enforcement
It is the responsibility of those who commission and carry out the design and building work to ensure their work complies with building regulations.
If building or carrying out work on residential buildings over 18 metres high (or are seven or more storeys high), the developer needs to obtain approval from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). The BSR is a new independent body created by the government in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
Approval is required from the local authority or a registered private-sector building control approver for other buildings.
Both local authorities and the BSR have enforcement powers to require developers to correct non-compliant work. They can also prosecute people who violate building regulations. The local fire and rescue service has powers to ensure that responsible persons comply with their duties under the Fire Safety Order.
What happened after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017?
The fire at Grenfell Tower in London claimed the lives of 72 people and injured over 70 more, and highlighted fire safety issues in high-rise residential buildings in the UK.
The fire prompted the Grenfell Tower inquiry and a review of building regulations and fire safety, changes to fire safety legislation, including The Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire safety Act 2021.
The Building Safety Act 2022 established the BSR, and provided further powers to enforce action against violations of building regulations. It also introduced new rules for high-rise residential buildings.
The Fire Safety Act 2021 established that the ‘responsible persons’ of blocks of flats must consider the building’s structure, external walls and flat entrance doors in their fire risk assessments. Additional duties were also imposed on responsible persons, including the requirement to share fire safety information with the building’s residents and to regularly check fire doors in blocks 11 or more metres high.
New rules for higher risk buildings
In response to the Grenfell Tower fire, the government introduced new rules for higher-risk buildings, overseen by the BSR. Higher-risk buildings are those 18 or more metres high (or seven or more storeys) with two or more residential units.
Developers now need to obtain approval from the BSR, whether building new higher-risk buildings or making changes to existing higher-risk buildings.
Responsible persons of high-rise blocks of flats have new duties, including the preparation of floor and building plans and the requirement to share this information with the local fire and rescue service.
Higher-risk buildings must have an ‘accountable person’ to assess and manage the risk to people’s safety from the spread of fire and in the event of a building collapse. The BSR will establish whether they have complied with their duties.
Evacuation strategies
A ‘stay put’ strategy applies in most blocks of flats in England in the event of a fire. The thinking is that a fire will be contained within the flat in which it originated for a sufficient time for fire and rescue services to extinguish it before other properties are affected. As such, only residents of that flat need to evacuate.
Blocks of flats should be designed and constructed to support ‘effective compartmentation’ to ensure that a fire is retained within one flat. All flats and escape routes must now be enclosed by fire-resisting materials.
The National Fire Chiefs Council supports the ‘stay put’ strategy in most blocks of flats, fearing that if all residents leave at the same time, access for firefighters might be impeded. Residents could also put themselves in danger by moving from a safe flat to a communal area containing smoke or fire.
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs)
At the time of the Grenfell Tower fire, there were 37 disabled residents and, of these, 15 died. Disabled residents comprised 41% of all those who died in the fire.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommended the introduction of ‘PEEPs’. The responsibility of the ‘responsible persons’ of high-rise residential buildings, these would be required for residents unable to self-evacuate or who need assistance to leave a building (including disabled people).
Despite the recommendation, government consultation in 2021 concluded that there was insufficient evidence to impose such a mandate, causing concern among disabled rights groups who have expressed concern that disabled people should not have to wait to be rescued.