Fire Risk Assessments

Hi All, I am responsible for some large student accommodation buildings, all of which are purpose built which appear to support a stay put policy, the buildings have no MCPs. However the head of health and safety post Grenfell has decided to make all buildings 'Simultaneous Evacuation' which I disagree with as the buildings bar some minor breaches have adequate compartmentation. The question is, if this person insists on keeping simultaneous evacuation I have told him the alarm systems will have to be modified. (MCPs at each storey exit and final exit), currently the alarm has been partially modified to sound automatically when a detector is triggered. Is this…

a couple of years ago i insulated my loft roof rafters with polystyrene slabs, puchased from wickes.These are only in the pitched area of the roof ie the highest point.My worry is that these may be a fire hazard. can you advise please. thanks. Richard

Hi there, which guidance would be best for risk assessing a commercial garage? The garage compromises a service workshop, MOT workshop, small office with first floor storage above, WCs, small staff room and several lockable attached buildings such as oil stores etc. Situated behind houses and accessed via a slip road entrance between 2 houses. More than likely 1930s build so as you can imagine, fire prevention/detection is negligible at the moment. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Good Evening, Can anyone please advise, we have a client that has had a FRA completed on a house converted in to 3 flats back in the early 80's. The property consists of Flat 1 which is the main house (occupied by the RP) and Flats 2 and 3 which are rented out to single tenants on long term lease. The Escape route from flats 2 and 3 is a communal staircase which passes through a conservatory area to a final exit door to the main road. The FRA has asked for Grade A LD2 communal with heat detector in the flat entrance within 600mm of the door interlinked. Grade D LD2 within each flat. The RP is adamant that he will not have any trunking or floors lifted within th…

Hi all, Looking for some simple advice as my local council isn't being very useful. The link they gave is just for domestic requests: https://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11065 I am looking to rent out a commercial unit as a cafe in Bury town centre but there is no current secondary means of fire escape. Please can you look at the rough plan to see if I would need to install a secondary fire escape or if one door would suffice?

I live in a block of nine owner occupied flats and the building is self managed by the owners. In relation to a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) of the building, please can someone let me know: Does the FRA only involve the communal areas of the building, or will each individual flat need to be inspected? Does the FRA require a Gas Safety Certificate for each flat and/or a Domestic Electrical Installation Condition Report to be prepared? How long is a FRA valid for? Many thanks, Roy Taylor

If a fire door frame is fitted with fire/smoke seal should the gap between the door and frame be taken from the door to frame or smoke seal to frame?

Hello, I have recently purchased a building with 35 flats and has come to our attention that the previous builder did not fit compartmentation between existing flat walls. The building has now been emptied to rectify this issue. Looking for recommendations that would be the quickest and cheapest option to fit compartmentation to bring the building upto standards. Thanks

Hi, Can anyone explain the reasoning why cold smoke seals are not required on openings in protected shafts forming a service shaft (i.e. riser cupboard doors) according to Approved Document B of the Building Regulations? Thanks Jonathan

Hi, I have a house converted into small flats, it’s a 3 storey building. it already has mains heat and smoke detectors, but should it also have a control panel ? If so is there a certain spec it would need to be ? also would it need call points ?(break glass) ? if it makes any difference the communal area is only 2 storeys of stairs, with the top flat having its own private stairs. thanks

I live in Housing Association property. I'm one of six shared owners in a small three story block of self contained two bedroom flats. We've emergency lighting and a fire alarm to the common areas and previously also had fire extinguishers in this area. There has always been a stay put guideline in the event of fire. The entrance doors to the individual flats are probably not good fire doors as I can see daylight clearly through one of them. Many of the smoke detectors in the flats don't work as they are very poorly fitting and it's impossible to open them to replace the batteries so many of us have our own for safety reasons. Recently a fire risk assessment was carr…

Hi I purchased and fitted a fd60 door and frame today. The top and bottom of the door had no hardwood lippings and the chipboard core was visible. Is this ok, I thought it should have 10mm hardwood strips top and bottom. The frame was double grooved .for intumisent s If the door itself was to be grooved would grooving through the chipboard be ok ? Would appreciate your comments

Hi, Looking for advice or recommendations on software used for conducting fire risk assessments. ultimately I believe the way forward is to use a tablet to gather information/evidence whilst on the premises but then also utilise this time efficiently by completing sections of the report whilst on site. Whenever complex or significant findings are highlighted, these will always need a greater level of detail however these can be edited back at the office. what I would want is a system which is user friendly which allows for multiple templates to be used dependant on the premise (block of flats / factory or process risk) and reduces the time spent report writ…

I have just surveyed a three storey property converted into 3 flats. There are gas meters and pipework in the single protected staircase. My instinct is to recommend enclosure with 30 mins FR. However, the building regulations states that gas service and installation pipes or associated meters can be incorporated within a protected stairway if the gas installation is in accordance with the requirements for installation and connection set out in the Pipelines Safety Regulations 1996, SI 1996 No 825 and the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 SI 1998 No 2451. Does enclosing it break the requirements for ventilation? Can anyone offer advice on this? Thanks in …

Hi, Please could someone give me a steer on guidance to use for fire safety in mix occupancy (shop / office on ground floor and residential flat on first floor). Not purpose built - was a 1900's dwelling converted approximately 1950's. I've been looking at LACORS and DCLG/HM Guidance for sleeping accommodation - is there anything else? Due to the fire separation between the commercial unit (Hairdressers) and first floor being uncertain, I wanted a guide to show what compensatory features we could use, in particular early warning, linking in to flat. But didn't know if Heat detectors in ground floor were permitted to prevent false alarms in the flat d…

When applying the LACoRS guidance to houses converted to self-contained flats (prior to 1991) is the extent of the shared internal communal area irrelevant when counting the number of storeys (section 37)? For example, a three storey property has only a small communal lobby at ground floor level only with two flat entrance doors located within this lobby. Flat A occupies the ground floor only. Flat B occupies the upper two floors and the stairs are entirely within this flat (technically flat B is over three floors as its entrance is at ground floor level). As this is a three storey property, then Case Study D11 applies and a Grade A LD2 system (with control pane…

I've been asked to carry out an FRA for a single tenant in a warehouse that's been converted to provide managed office spaces for quite a few tenants. Essentially, the first floor has been fitted out with partition walls and a suspended ceiling to 'void' the height of the original warehouse. There are two means of escape (23m and 32m) and an L1 fire alarm system (as far as I can determine), but I'm convinced compartmentation between different occupancies should be 60 minute walls and 30 minute doors. The building was built before the war, extended in the 50s and converted to this in the 70s. Any comments? Thanks

Hi, silly question but in our office we have huge amounts of portable electrical equipment such as monitors, PC's, laptops, kettles, microwaves, photocopiers, printers, etc. A typical large open plan office. The building is fitted throughout with a sprinkler system which is obviously a plus point! But, is there not a risk of electrocution or other problems if the sprinkler system activates over a piece of electrical equipment that is plugged in to the mains?? Also, when does the sprinkler stop putting water on the fire?? Does it work for a certain period of time or does it automatically somehow recognise when the flames are extinguished and stop?? We're …

Hello all I am about to buy a flat in leasehold. The solicitor told me the Fire Risk Assessment documents are missing and there is no way to find them. The last evidence of Fire Risk Assessment is a report dated more than 3 years ago. She also told me it's strongly recommended to either ask the owner to do it before the purchase (it would take 3-4 weeks) or to buy the property and request it as soon as possible. I would rather not to wait 3-4 weeks cause the purchase has already taken longer than expected and I am also keen to pay for the Fire Risk Assessment. Am I authorised to pay for the Fire Risk Assessment of the whole building? Or should I go through the m…

Wonder if someone could offer some advice please? I've had a read through Approved Doc B1 but still remain a little confused... We have just purchased a property which previously had an extension added (2009). The original house is composed of two storeys. The extension was built with a single habitable loft room. Currently all doors that open onto the extension stairwell are FDs to a final ground floor exit. The main house and extension are currently only connected via an internal door on the ground floor and we intend to make an opening on the first floor to allow access throughout. This stairwell would open into a lounge which has double patio doors le…

Hi. A client has recently asked me does he need to get Fire Risk Assessments carried out on the inside of flats, he is the freeholder of a block, and is aware that he needs to have a Fire Risk Assessment for the communal, but does he need assessments for the tenanted flats. Thanking you. Tony Campbell AssocRICS, MCIOB

Hi I am a lease holder of a flat in a block of 80 flats. I have received a letter from the management company for the block advising that they have completed the fire compartmentation of the communal areas. They are now requesting all leaseholders to instruct their own contractor and supply the Management Company with a completion cert. Any works that need doing have completed and send detailed report to the management company. My question is who does this responsibility lay with? Is it not still the management company of the block?

Hi all, I am having issues when conducting Fire Risk Assessments trying to ascertain if glazing is suitably fire resistant (even with corresponding markings) as often there is no definitive answer as to the performance of the glazing when I search the BS online. Does anybody have a document or can point me in the correct direction of a place where I can find a definitive list of the correct British Standards for fire resistant glazing within the UK. I hope this make sense, thanks for the forum. Kind Regards.

Hi there, I recently stayed at a hotel in London and booked a different hotel after the first night as there was buzzing coming from what seemed to be the air conditioning electrics. On closer inspection it seemed there was a ceiling leak that had been a problem for a while judging by the condition of the nearby wall and was now effecting the electrics by the look of things. The hotel staff didn't seem to be able to do much about it and management were unavailable. I reported it in detail and even showed a member of staff before leaving the hotel. My question is, is there a watchdog or government office this sort of thing should reported to, to en…

Purpose built, traditional construction two storey (4 flats) block of flats in Birmingham built in 1966. The flat Entrance doors that lead out onto the internal communal area are 44mm thick, with no intumescent strips, no cold smoke seals, no intumescent letter box and NO SELF Closer (rising butt hinges no longer meet requirements. (Arguably notional doors) The leaseholders argue that the front doors did not need to be self closing as of building regulations so they don't need to be now - I'm struggling to find building regs 1966. I believe new Fd30s door sets should be installed but in the short term the doors appears to provide notonal fir…