The Grenfell Inquiry and upcoming Fire Safety Bill will place further emphasis on the responsibility of building owners and responsible persons to carry out thorough risk assessments and ensure appropriate fire safety standards. Make sure you know the facts and are prepared.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s Phase 1 report was exhaustive in detail and made a series of findings and recommendations relevant to government, which the Government accepted.
This includes new duties on building owners and managers to issue information to Fire and Rescue Services, ensure there are premises information boxes, carry out regular inspections of lifts and fire doors, equip buildings with the facilities for Fire and Rescue Services to send evacuation signals and ensure building floor numbers are clearly marked.
The Home Office accepted the recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt in her independent review of building regulations and fire safety and remain committed to introducing legislation in response to the Hackitt Review.
MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) has made £600 million funding available for the replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on high-rise residential homes in the social and private sectors. It has also banned the use of combustible materials on new high-rise blocks of flats since December 2018.
MHCLG has issued clear advice to building owners on a range of fire safety issues, including other (non-ACM) types of cladding, to help them meet their legal obligations to keep buildings and residents safe.
The Home Office’s upcoming Fire Safety Bill will aim to clarify the scope of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and may require:
- building owners or managers to share information with fire and rescue services on external wall systems, and undertake regular inspections of flat entrance doors
- guidelines for carrying out evacuations of high-rise residential buildings
In addition, the Government is to establish the new Building Safety Regulator and Chief Inspector of Buildings.
Given this forthcoming legislative clarification, it would be advisable for those responsible under the Fire Safety Order for multi-occupied residential buildings to assess the risk of external wall structures if they have not done so, and take the necessary measures as a result of that assessment.
Building owners or the responsible persons should carry out urgent checks to ensure fire doors comply with current standards.
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