AnthonyB

You've asked this elsewhere - 1 RP, one premises, 1 linked set of protective measures, just 2 compartments, so could be one FRA. There could be an argument to split them if under completely different management just under the same parent, but it is easier (& cheaper if third party assessed) to have 1 report

Nor under the Fire Safety Order as it's inside the dwelling, nor under Building Regulations as they aren't retrospective. Are they rented or owner occupied? Assuming you are in England LD2 exceeds the statutory minimum of LD3 for rental properties.

The top storey of the building being 11 metres or more/18 metres or more in height should be determined ignoring any storey which is a roof-top machinery or plant area or consists exclusively of machinery or plant rooms, and should be measured from the ground level on the lowest side of a building to the top storey upper floor surface So not roof or ceiling level

Your written Fire Risk Assessment for the blocks (as you should legally have in place) should address this. Any reasonable assessor would, in accordance with the official Government guidance for blocks of those sizes accept the original notional fire doors (usually 44mm or 54mm thick depending on fire rating) as long as they are in good condition and installed to the correct standard originally (unfortunately some modern blocks have defects that were overlooked at the time of build). Beware of people saying you must fit new certified doorsets, fire alarms, etc. Depending where you are in the UK I may be able t help you further if you wish.

Doesn't sound like it, certainly not the front door.

This guide will help - p48 onwards for specific guidance. https://www.cieh.org/media/1244/guidance-on-fire-safety-provisions-for-certain-types-of-existing-housing.pdf You will also require a written fire risk assessment.

As it's a conversion the "Making your small block of flats safe from fire" guide doesn't apply as it is unlikely to meet the required construction standards or have the built in fire precaution and smoke control features and it's recommended a professional carry it out - the "guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing produced by the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS)" linked is more appropriate to flats converted from older houses. Currently the RP can carry this out themselves if they can demonstrate competency, although there is a gradual move to restrict this in future only to the three types of premises covered by the three guides in the section "Guidance for fire safety in small premises" but that's a few years off yet!

The freeholders, having control over the common parts, would be legally responsible. If there is no Management Company then both the individual freeholders would jointly be Responsible Persons as 'natural persons', if there is a Management Company then it, as a 'legal person' it would be the RP. The Fire Safety Order (as amended by the Building Safety Act) applies to England & Wales and so you would be required to carry out a fire risk assessment which must be recorded along with the fire safety arrangements for the premises. The FRA would then determine if your current general fire precautions are adequate. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fire-safety-legislation-guidance-for-those-with-legal-duties

If it's a separate external building the only considerations for the door is it's security/robustness and it's ability to ventilate the chamber. Sounds like someone has read guidance but can't apply it correctly. A gas intake room within a building would be different (but still not likely to need to be 's' rated)

It wouldn't surprise me if the council does a kneejerk reaction and 'bans' everything, but having a second exit and being presumably ground floor, then none of that is really an issue - even in larger blocks the concept of ;managed use' exists to allow at least some of these. See also - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-in-purpose-built-blocks-of-flats

If that's minor wear & tear then you have a slum landlord! Possibly, it depends on what elements of the cover are those giving the fire resistance.

Many vets have an on call staff flat or rest room to allow staff to sleep. Whilst there are certain minimum requirements for sleeping risk premises an already compliant vets premises should either meet these anyway or not require major work. Guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-risk-assessment-sleeping-accommodation

Refer to your manual - some of these type of alarms use different sequences of beeps for different things such as low battery or in the case of CO alarms a raised level of CO that is below the alarm threshold.

Do you have a suitable site wide fire alarm system to support a full evacuation policy? If so, whilst a last resort it is a feasible alternative to compartmentation upgrades, which in some properties are not possible or feasible. A good FRA will acknowledge this - I've assessed many buildings where it's the only viable solution so the FRA doesn't scream 'intolerable'

Stairwells shouldn't contain storage/deliveries anyway - are you talking about flats or commercial buildings.

You'd need a combined fire & smoke damper - these are usually powered and linked to a fire detection & alarm system. For example you fit this to the door or doors: https://www.firesealsdirect.co.uk/passive-fire-protection/intumescent-grilles/fire-smoke-air-transfer-grilles/lvn20s/lorient-lvn20s-fire-smoke-resistant-air-transfer-grille-kit-200x200mm-54mm/ Then link them to this control & monitoring system: https://www.firesealsdirect.co.uk/passive-fire-protection/intumescent-grilles/talkback-damper-control-system/ Which in turn is linked to your fire alarm system. All vastly expensive hence rare to see.

The only reason they would need it is if there is a resident who has identified a need for assistance and as part of the PEEP created for them by the agent the provision of an evac chair on their floor was part of it.

Short section of ladder in SCBA is unlikely to happen, they could vent to some extent from the landing set, although strictly speaking the higher ones should be the ones used. It meets the spirit of the guidance so it's essentially how comfortable you feel with it in this situation.

Looks like a pretty standard cladding & latent defect exclusion that virtually all standard fire risk assessors PI have. Cover for this is difficult to get and costs a capital amount of money which is why firms doing FRAEW reports charge an extortionate amount of money.

No, such requirements aren't retrospective if no relevant alterations have been carried out in recent times where they should have been added.

The minimum is to test one smoke/heat detector or call point per zone on a service visit, with all having been tested at least once in a 12 month period. The minimum is 2 service visits in a 12 month period so most of the time you see 50% of devices tested per visit, but as long as one per zone is tested you could do 10%/90%, 25%/75% or whatever works. Large sites can have more than 2 service visits so the percentage split could be 25%/25%/25%/25% or other combinations Reference BS5839-1:2017 45.3 (g) & (h)

If you have to discount the shutter as it has no wicket gate and doesn't meet the definition in (f) above and the premises are as small as you describe (thus not requiring an electrical fire alarm system as human detection & verbal warning is deemed sufficient) then to manage the 'inner room' (warehouse) situation then you can either: - ensure there is a vision panel in the door between the inner room (warehouse) & access room (office); or - provide a mains powered (Grade D) domestic smoke alarm to the inner room (Reference https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64257bbe3d885d000cdadf2d/A_guide_to_making_your_small_non-domestic_premises_safe_from_fire.pdf)

In flats there is a legally binding inspection regime where over 11m under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Quarterly for communal doors, Annual for flat front doors. Smaller blocks still have to inspect but rather than being prescribed intervals the official Guidance (which has special status meaning if you follow it you are deemed compliant with the law but if you don't you will tend to be deemed non compliant) states 6 monthly for communal doors and still has annual for flat front doors but rather than 'best endeavours' as required in over 11m blocks (meaning you have to do everything you can to access the doors, not just try once and give up) it's more aspirational. Everywhere else it's usually seen as 6 monthly - although more frequent checks for propping, etc are usually inspected as part of weekly/monthly general inspections of workplace fire precautions.

It shouldn't if the assessment is any good - however the fact you aren't seeing the assessment may indicate it has. Under s156 of the Building Safety Act you have a legal right to be told of the risks in the building as part of the annual resident engagement requirement (evacuation procedure, importance of fire doors, name & UK address of the Responsible Person, etc) that applies to all buildings with 2 or more dwellings, not just high rises.

If it doesn't have the etching for fire rated glass as oppose to just toughened or laminated the assumption has to be it isn't - fire rated glass in the pre-etching days was almost universally Georgian wired so if it was clear it wasn't fire glazing. I'd have no option to request the glass is changed myself.