Fire Risk Assessments

Hi, currently studying to become a fire risk assessor. A friend has allowed me to carry out a non real/practice risk assessment on a hair salon in a few days. I was quite interested in getting advice of the types of fire extinguishers that are suitable for this shop. A likely area of interest is the small work area each staff has on the shelf that has the combined fire risk of Class A. Electrical ie, hair dry, heating tongs. Class B. Liquid flammable hair product. Class C. Aresol can hair spray. All of with would likely be all together. My question is what two extinguishers would you recommend having in the store. Im guessing C02 would be a s…

I live in a flat that i own the leasehold of. There have been two FRAs one in 2019 and one in 2021, i had the local council conduct one when i moved in last April. There are issuses some notified as urgent and some lesser ones but all are being ignored. When i asked the local council if they would enforce the issue's he also reported, he said there was nothing they could do. So who do i go to to take action against the property management company .... or whats the point of FRAs

Hi, I live on the ground floor and have a question regarding the door inspection in my building, specifically concerning my situation. Adjacent to the entrance of my flat is a very small area (see attached figure). This area allows the neighbor to access the trash chutes near my entrance. All the doors in our building are fire doors. After the last inspection, additional work was performed on doors 2 and 3 to reduce their gaps to comply with the 4mm limit. My question is: Should the gap on door 1 (the entrance to my flat) also be adjusted to be fire compliant, as it has gaps larger than the mandatory 3-4mm? I would assume doors 2 and 3 are meant to pro…

Small, first-floor flat consists of a kitchen / living room and a small (windowless) bedroom and bathroom. There is a single exit from the flat, via the 4x4m kitchen / living room. To exit the flat from the bedroom and bathroom (which is adjoined to the bedroom), it is necessary to pass through the kitchen / living room. There is a total travel distance of about 7m. The door from the bedroom and the exit door are both on the other side of the kitchen / living room, so no need to pass directly by the kitchen oven / appliances. The kitchen / living room is fitted with hard-wired heat detection (so more time for the fire to develop, than smoke detection…

A bit of a complicated one.. please help! I own a residential property, main door entrance with three floors above. It’s an old Victorian and I haven’t done any major renovation works. The rest of the ground floor is a small commercial property which has sole use of the basement which can only be accessed from a shared back door (no direct access from the shop) and from my property (on the ground floor in my property there is a door to a corridor which leads to a back door and the basement. A means to take out the bins for me really). I haven’t changed any doors in the property and believe that the original Victorian doors / frames are in situ. I’ve measure…

Hi Everyone, Is there a product that can be used to fire stop around a standard boiler flue pipe? (I am not sure if there is such a thing)!!!

I have been posed a question by a colleague who is carrying out an FRA on a purpose built block of flats in England. There are 50 retirement flats in a building which has a stay put policy. These are domestic premise on a leased tenancy. Two of the residents have been identified as wheelchair users and the accommodation manager has requested a copy of a PEEPs template, however there is no provision of a refuge area with voice comms or any evac chairs. Are these a requirement in a residential building with a stay put policy? Anyone who answers this question, if you could please also provide a reference for it, it would be much appreciated. Many thanks…

I was called out by an owner of a maisonette who rents his property out to have a look at the fire detection within the property and make recommendations. Firstly I am not 100% conversant with fire alarms to be honest. There are a row of 5 maisonettes above a single storey library, access is via a rea staircase onto an open deck. The property was purpose built no roof voids and full compartmentation between library and flats and between flats exists. All internal doors are original fire doors with intumescent strips and seals to frames and perko closers which work! When the property was built back in 1992 a full fire alarm system was installed linking both the l…

We have three storey purpose built blocks of flats. One entrance and one stairwell with lobbied approach to flats. Built in the 90’s. There are 2 x AOVs which have gas canisters to open the AOVs in two of the blocks. These no longer work and cannot be tested. 3 of the other blocks, there are Velux windows (not AOVs). Would it be possible for these to be turned into openable Velux windows as opposed to AOVs or do they need to be AOVs? If they need to be AOVs do the other blocks need to be changed.

Good afternoon We want to have an open plan layout that combines the living area and stairs/hallway. The kitchen would be separate with it's own door. There is also a fire escape from the balcony off the kitchen to the ground floor courtyard at the back (not shown on the plans). The property is a flat covering the first, second and third floors of a victorian building. There's a separate ground floor flat below us. I've tried reading up on the fire regulations to see if this layout is possible, or whether we need to keep the hallway to separate the stairs from the living room. I've attached some plans (existing and proposed). Welcome any advice. T…

Hi All In a multi occupied premises consisting of multiple units rented out to individual businesses would you need compartmentation between each unit? And if so how many minutes? The purpose groups are 3 and 6. The units are not ancillary to each other and are totally independent businesses but share common escape routes and fire detection system. Many thanks.

Hi, Please can someone clarify if an empty commercial unit (small ground floor unit with residential accom above) requires a Fire Risk Assessment? I have received some conflicting advice- A local Fire Risk Assessor said it is required regardless of occupation (and quoted handsomely for the pleasure), as is a working and tested fire alarm(?!?) and that it says so in the legislation. I decided to speak to a friend of mine, who happens to be a retired fire officer, who said that it was a ridiculous suggestion and that a written FRA on an empty building isn't required under the Regulatory Reform Order. I have googled and tried to read through the RRO itself but it isnt…

Our 1st floor flat (built 1998 ) in block of 6 flats, had fire stopping survey carried out in 2023 by Managing Agents and stated that defects were found with flat front doors and communal doors and none met new fire safety regulations 2022. Initially we were advised by letter in September 2023 that Managing Agents were in discussions with original builders and were hopping they would cover some costs. In October I chased for an update and an email response stated "the site was developed with indadequate firestopping protection and discussions were taking place about necessary works and costs with original builders". Eight blocks of flats were covered under this au…

We have an attached annex converted 10 years ago which is now let out as a single let. It's ground floor, but part of our habitable accomodation is above, with standard plasterboard ceilings. Can we base on recommendations here having a grade D and ld2 be acceptable? Many thanks housing – fire safety | cieh https://www.cieh.org/media/1244/guidance-on-fire-safety-provisions-for-certain-types-of-existing-housing.pdf P47 Fire separation (see paragraph 19) 30 minutes fire resistance between flats throughout is the ideal, but on risk assessment there may be no requirement for additional fire-resisting separation between units providing walls a…

Fireangel have advised me that for grade D system, I only need one mains wired alarm and all other can be battery operated. I thought they all needed to be mains wired but they are adamant that this is the case. I informed them: It's for a single let rental . Kitchen lounge bathroom and 2 beds. They referred me to: https://www.fireangel.co.uk/british-standard-bs-5839-6-2019/ Grade D1. A system of one or more mains powered detectors, each with a tamper‑ ... Also will one smoke in hall, one in lounge and one heat detector in kitchen suffice for ld2? Any help much appreciated.

Forgive me, im posting this again. I understand that blocks of flats with common parts should have fire risk assessments, and this was clarified earlier in 2023, but building owners are still arguing that this only applies to enclosed common parts, and doesn't apply to first floor flats where flat doors open onto a balcony walkway and staircase is open air. Can you point me to an official statement that clarifies this. I had one reply with diagram of a external stairs and the regulations that apply, but that doesn't answer my question. I still can't get the management company to do a FRA because they are arguing that only applies if the stairs are enclosed. Th…

S156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 has amended the FSO 2005 as of 1 October. I am interested in how people are addressing the new requirement at 21A 3(A) to: "give residents of the domestic premises comprehensible and relevant information about the relevant fire safety matters. The fire safety matter at 3(A) is "the risks to residents of the domestic premises identified by the risk assessment" I work with an organisation that provides supported housing and many of the tenants are vulnerable or have learning disabilities. I am concerned that a serious finding in an FRA that increased the assessed risk to say, substantial would cause undue alarm and…

Hi, I'm a leaseholder in a terraced building with 2 flats - ground floor and first floor. I have a fire door inspection next month and wanted some advice in advance. Because there is a very small "communual area" entrance hall (1.5m x 1m) and a shared front door, both flats need to have fire doors. Both flats do already have rated fire doors. The ground floor flat has a door that opens inwards with an automatic closer. My flat is the first floor flat, where the door to the flat opens directly onto a staircase, and so this door opens outwards. This, to me, poses an issue for my door having an automatic closer. There cannot be one on the inside as it would po…

I am after some guidance currently available regarding the charging of Ebike and Escooter (as a mean of transport by staff) within a workplace and the impact it should have on the FRA. Is there any guidelines for the responsible person or whoever complete the FRA on their behalf? Thank you F

Should toilets/toilet lobbies be included in compartmentation lines on drawings in dead end situations?? I understand they are no immediate fire risk, however my concern would be occupiers of the toilet being offered the same level of protection for those in adjacent rooms if excluded? Cheers

Evening All, I have just had an FRA for the communal area in our converted house. Its a 4 storey house with 3 flats each sharing an entrance way through the main front door. Most of the recommendations are easy to understand but im struggling with the following parts - can anyone offer advice? Secondly - are these requirements something that has to be done or advisories? Obviously we bought the flat about 10 years ago and none of this ever came up - is it that new or is it just advice? The electrics cupboard in the hallway requires upgrading to be 30-minutes fire resisting. It must also be fitted with a lock to lock it shut. It must have comb…

A question for fire risk assessors. Both of these properties have two or more residences. The external walls are masonry but there is some decorative cladding. How concerned should I be in light of the requirements for external wall consideration in the fire risk assessment.

Hi When deciding on simultaneous or stay put strategies in blocks of flats risk assessors seem to decide based on whether the building was built to current building regulations. What year would a conversion be acceptable as being built under current building regulations, and so suitable for stay put?

I understand that blocks of flats with common parts should have fire risk assessments, and this was clarified earlier in 2023, but building owners are still arguing that this only applies to enclosed common parts, and doesn't apply to first floor flats where flat doors open onto a balcony walkway and staircase is open air. Can you point me to an official statement that clarifies this. Thanks

🙂 I need some advice on a topic that may affect quite a few people with the same issue. It is regarding the change that the UK has made towards air conditioners that use a propane based refrigerant, R290, and whether this is safe to use in an environment with minimal air flow? I run a rehearsal studio for local bands to play in, and for the sake of soundproofing all of the windows are bricked up, and we have built a "room within the room", where we leave an gap of about 18 inches from the outside of the room, and then build a new internal room from industrial cinder blocks. As a result the thermal insulation is incredibly high, so we have air conditioners that …