When you own/operate a property used to provide residential accommodation for families or individuals, there’s a question you need to seek the answer to: do I really know my buildings?British Housing providers, as expected after the Grenfell tragedy, are turning the microscope on themselves. They are examining in detail fire safety provision across thousands of properties – not just high-rise property, but all their housing stock.
Faced with a varied portfolio of building stock which can include purpose-built high, medium and low-rise property and flats in converted houses, there is an overwhelming variety of issues to consider.
Often there are no detailed records regarding built-in fire safety measures
Often there are no detailed records regarding built-in fire safety measures and incomplete records of improvements and additions of active measures. Properties are sometimes inherited as part of historic mergers and don’t come with detailed fire safety information.
Is it any wonder housing providers face a huge task in understanding their stock and the risks they pose to their tenants?
Where to start? Well one local authority housing provider has started at the beginning: implementing a project with the aim of getting to know their property portfolio.
Starting at the beginning is the logical first step:
An ‘as built’ fire strategy is an excellent starting point in getting to know your buildings. The strategy should take into consideration the current use and current occupancy.
Often buildings can change use over years and assisted living units are very different from general needs accommodation. Many properties have been used to house different residents over the years with little or no regard for change of occupancy.
An ‘As built’ fire strategy provides the details required to then further assess and inspect. For example, there is a need to ensure the building can support the evacuation strategy.
Armed with an accurate description of the building, the responsible person can plan maintenance and testing, improvement works and new installations that don’t compromise existing compartmentations lines
If the residents are expected to ‘stay put’, the compartmentation must be suitable. Fire separation between individual flats or bedsits, service risers, escape stairs and rooms off the common escape routes must support the strategy.
A passive fire inspection should be completed to ensure the required compartmentation is suitable. Having plans as part of the fire strategy with the required compartment lines identified is essential to enable a focused and accurate passive fire protection inspection.
The identification of any existing or required active fire protection measures, such as automatic alarm and detection systems, emergency lighting and automatic smoke venting is also essential. With a report that clearly states what is required, where it should be, and how the building supports the required evacuation strategy, it provides the building owner with the answers needed to the vital question.
Armed with an accurate description of the building in respect of the fire safety provision, the responsible person can plan maintenance and testing, they can ensure that improvement works, and new installations don’t compromise the existing compartmentations lines.
They can commission an accurate fire risk assessment which compliments the fire strategy and prevents the fire risk assessor from adding unnecessary actions within their significant findings.
Most importantly the strategy document and supporting surveys/reports are specific to the building in question and unlike relying on a fire risk assessment, they answer the vital question – Fire! Do I really know my buildings?
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
