This article has been updated

23 September 2024

The FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS (England) 2022 came into force on 23^rd January 2023.  These are legal requirements which apply to all high-rise residential buildings .  Following publication of the Fire Safety Act, paving the way, the regulations have been laid under article 24 of the Fire Safety Order 2005 and bring together previous guidance which is now mandatory.

The regulations bring about obligations for landlords of residential buildings over 18metres or 7 floors.

The requirements include:

It is compulsory to provide a Secure Information Box

• This is a red aluminium or steel non-combustible box which holds plans of the building showing where all the key entrances, exits, fire safety equipment and any special hazards are.
• The box should be placed at the main access point to the building, or at a location otherwise agreed with the Fire and Rescue service, which for sites with 24/7 management may be in the management office (within the building)
• The box must be reasonably secure (appropriate to the location of the box)
• The box must contain the name and address of the Responsible Person
• The box must contain the name and contact details of other such persons necessary to facilitate the Responsible Person
• The box contents must inspected at least annually (to ensure that the information remains present and up to date copies of all the necessary information are included).

The information contained within the box forms part of the Golden Thread of information.  Therefore Residents are entitled to view the information if they have a need to do so.  PLEASE NOTE: Some contents of the Secure Information Box should contain information about residents with mobility impairments that could affect their ability to escape if there is a fire affecting their apartment, this information will be Confidential and should be kept only for viewing by those with a statutory duty requiring them to have access to the information volunteered by the resident (for example the Fire Brigade).

Information about the design and materials of external walls

• A mandatory form containing information about the design of the building needs to be completed and sent to the Fire and Rescue Service. This form, once completed, will provide basic information about the design and what the external walls are made of, so that the fire authorities can review this information and make judgements about risk and how to tackle a fire in the event of an incident.
• This will include information about flammable cladding, combustible decking, stacked wooden balconies and combustible insulation.
• A copy of this form can be found here: Link to template

Simple Plans for the Fire and Rescue Service

• These are the plans that should be placed in the Secure Information Box as laid out above
• Copies must also be provided electronically to the Fire and Rescue service
• Information about how to prepare these plans is provided by the National Fire Chiefs Council

Lifts and other essential fire fighting equipment

• There is a new mandatory requirement for monthly checks, levelled at lifts and other essential fire fighting equipment.
• There is a new mandatory procedure that any fault in lifts, fire alarms, evacuation systems and door release mechanisms not rectified within 24 hours must be reported to the Fire Service. Reports to the Fire Service are done via an online portal provided by the local Fire and Rescue Service.

Wayfinding

• Clear floor level markings on each level are now mandatory, this is to be located in the stair core and must display the floor number, and the apartment numbers on that floor with arrows pointing in which direction the respective apartments are located. More guidance on the design of this is located on page 106 and 107 of the latest Approved Document B here.
• Note that this is the latest version of Approved Document B: Fire Safety. Normally your building only needs to comply with the building regulations that were relevant at the time it was built.  However this new Regulation effectively retrospectively implements a section of the latest version of Approved Document B: Fire Safety.  Note that this only applies to this section of Approved Document B: Fire Safety, it does not change the Building Regulations for the rest of your building.

Information which Landlords must provide to residents

• The Landlord must provide clear fire safety instructions to residents about what to do in case of fire. This will include the evacuation strategy and escape stairs for the building, how to report a fire and anything else that you need to do in the case of a fire. This should be provided in accordance with the Resident Engagement Strategy.  The Responsible Person should have a Resident Engagement Strategy which includes information about how residents are involved in building safety decisions and how that information is provided.  For example, the fire safety instructions should be included in the homeowners pack when the resident moves in, however PLEASE NOTE, the evacuation strategy could have changed, so residents should make sure they have up to date communications from the Responsible Person about what to do in case of fire.  This should also be provided in areas about the building (such as next to the lifts).

New quarterly checks on Fire Doors

• It is important that
  • Fire doors to be kept shut
  • Do not tamper with self closers
  • Residents should report any faults to the responsible person
• The Responsible person must use best endeavours to undertake checks on apartment entrance doors annually and keep records of steps taken to carry out these checks.
• Checks on communal doors must be done every three months.

The reason for this new requirement is that the normal stay-put-policy relies on the performance of fire doors.  In Grenfell it was found that the fire doors did not perform anywhere close to the required duration of fire resistance.

Fire doors (timber, steel and aluminium etc) by their nature are exposed to wear and tear, and relatively small defects can have a significant impact on their performance.  Clearly if they don’t close properly, there will be a major failure of the door.  But if the gaps at the top and sides are over 4mm, tests have shown that this would significantly adversely affect the performance of the door in fire.  If you have information which confirms that the door installed is the correct door in line with the Fire Strategy (most commonly an apartment front entrance door will be required to be FD30s (30minutes integrity with smoke seals), and that it was competently installed in the first place, then any defects are likely to be as a result of wear and tear, damage to the timber or shrinkage of the timber.  Key components such a drop-down door seals and door closers have a finite lifespan and must be checked for correct operation.  A competent person on behalf of the landlord should inspect the fire doors and keep records about any failures.  If your apartment front entrance door is defective, you will need to arrange a competent specialist to carry out the work. Note, that if your apartment front door is clearly defective or doesn’t close properly, it is important that you report this to the Responsible Person and take urgent action to have it repaired.

P.S. If you want to make sure that your decking is fully compliant with all fire safety requirements and will look and feel great, you can contact us at www.blazeboard.co.uk or email us at info@blazeboard.co.uk or give us a call at 01442 894965.